LinkedIn Results Top Estimate

(RTTNews) - Professional social network LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) said Thursday after the markets closed that its second quarter profit rose 32% from last year amid strong member growth.

The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.

However, the company forecast third quarter revenue below analysts' current consensus estimate. At the same time, the company once again raised its full year 2013 revenue forecast, but that is also below analysts' current consensus estimate.

"Accelerated member growth and strong engagement drove record operating and financial results in the second quarter," said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. "We are continuing to invest in driving scale across the LinkedIn platform in order to fully realize our long-term potential."

LinkedIn shares are currently gaining 6.31% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $213.00, up $9.21 or 4.52%. The stock hit an all-time high of $213.48 during the intra-day trading earlier Thursday.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2013, the company reported net income of $3.7 million or $0.03 per share, compared to $2.8 million or $0.03 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, adjusted net income for the second quarter was $44.5 million or $0.38 per share, compared to $18.1 million or $0.16 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 32 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.31 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the second quarter rose 59% to $363.66 million from $228.21 million in the same quarter last year. Thirty-one analyst had a consensus revenue estimate of $353.85 million for the second quarter.

Linkedin ended second quarter 238 million members, up 37% year over year. The company recorded strong revenue growth across all its three product categories.

Second quarter revenues from talent solutions products jumped 69% to $205.1 million, while revenue from marketing solutions products surged 36% to $85.6 million and revenue from premium subscriptions products climbed 68% to $73.0 million.

U.S. revenue comprised 62% of the company's total revenue in the second quarter, while international revenue comprised the rest 38%.

Looking forward, the company forecasts third quarter revenue of $367 million and $373 million.

The company raised its full year 2013 revenue guidance to a range of $1.455 billion to $1.475 billion from its prior guidance of $1.43 billion to $1.46 billion.

Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $383.79 million for the third quarter and $1.50 billion for the full year 2013.