LinkedIn Results Top Forecasts, But Outlook Falls Short

LinkedIn Corp. on Thursday reported a third-quarter loss of $4.3 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $568 million, compared with a loss of $3.4 million or 3 cents a share, on $393 million in sales in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, LinkedIn earned 52 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast the professional-services networking company to earn 48 cents a share on $558 million in sales. For its fourth-quarter, LinkedIn forecast earnings, excluding one-time items, of 49 cents a share on revenue in a range of $600 million to $605 million. Analysts had forecast LinkedIn to earn 52 cents a share on $612 million for its fourth quarter.