LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) will come out with its first quarter results on Thursday, the company is expected to post strong numbers along with witnessing a double-digit growth in all the three business segments, according to a new research report from Cantor Fitzgerald, published on April 28, by analysts Youssef Squali, Naved Khan and Kip Paulson. Going into the earnings, analysts are positive on the stock considering the large addressable markets, tested business model and recent share pullback.
LinkedIn 2Q guidance to be in-line with consensus
For the first quarter, LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) is expected to post numbers in-line or above the Street consensus (FactSet) estimate. For the quarter, consensus estimate for revenue is $467 million and EBITDA of $112 million, which is an increase of 44% year over year. Analysts expect revenue and EBITDA to come in at $464 million and $110 million, respectively. Analysts reportedly note that Street estimates are ahead of guidance of $455-460M/$106-108M in revenue and EBITDA, respectively. Analysts expect NEPS to come in at $0.27 v. the consensus estimate of $0.35.
For the second quarter, LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) is expected to offer guidance, which will be in-line with the consensus estimate for revenue of $506 million and EBITDA of $121 million.
Segment wise estimates for LinkedIn
According to the analysts, LinkedIn’s core Talent Solutions segment will witness a strong growth gaining from the “market share gains from traditional offline (executive search firms) and online players (Monster.com, CareerBuilder) and from strength in the Professional Services segment.” For the segment, analysts expect revenues at $270 million, which is an increase of 47% year over year. LinkedIn is expected to gain 1.7K new Corporate Solutions customers in the quarter, making the total count of 26.1K.
For the Marketing Solutions, analysts believe the move from the management towards “sponsored updates” in the news feed will support the growth in the quarter, and expect revenue of $101.3 million from the segment, which is an increase of 35% year over year compared to 36% in the fourth quarter and 56% last year.
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) is expected to witness a strong member growth of 34% year over year totaling to 291 million members. In April, the company revealed 300 million members, while at the end of the December the number was 277 million. Revenues from the Premium subscription are expected to improve by 41% year over year to $93 million.
Cantor Fitzgerald analysts have Buy rating on LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) with a price target of $240.
