LinkedIn Rises Slightly, Then Drops After Q3 Earnings Beat

Shares of LinkedIn (NASDAQ: LNKD) are down nearly two percent after the company announced its third-quarter results.

LinkedIn reported a Q3 EPS of $0.39 versus the Street estimate of $0.32.

Earnings per share were up 77 percent from the year-ago period.

Revenue came in at $393 million versus the Street estimate of $385.57 million. Sales were up 56 percent year-over-year.

LinkedIn also announced that it expects its fourth-quarter revenue to fall within the $415 million to $420 million range. This is a bit lower than the $440 million revenue that Wall Street anticipated.

"Increased member growth and engagement helped drive strong financial results in the third quarter," Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, said in a company release. "We continue to deliver value to professionals through investment in core products and strategic initiatives such as mobile, students, and the professional publishing platform."

Today's after market declines might seem like a tiny bubble in LinkedIn's vast waters.

The company is trading up more than 115 percent this year, and is up more than 127 percent over the last 12 months.

As far as social media companies are concerned, only Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) -- the world's largest social network -- has been growing faster. Over the past 12 months, Facebook shares have gained more than 137 percent.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.

Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ