No surprises, but LinkedIn’s last independent earnings releases in line with expectations

Dave W. Shanahan

In a report by Business Insider, the LinkedIn Q3 2016 earnings report showed significant growth in its last earnings report as an independent company. Following analyst expectations, LinkedIn’s growth was due to LinkedIn premium memberships and other recruiting tools.

In a Reuters report, LinkedIn’s revenue grew 23% to $960 million, matching general estimates. LinkedIn membership grew 4% from its Q2 2016 earnings report to 467 million members, and its active monthly membership remained around 106 million active members.

Here are more highlights from the LinkedIn Q3 2016 earnings report:

  • Sponsored content continues to drive ad revenue. About two-thirds of LinkedIn’s Q3 2016 revenue came from its talent solutions division, which helps recruiters seek potential job candidates, and ad revenue also grew substantially. Falling under the Marketing Solutions segment, ads brought in $175 million in Q3 2016, up 26% YoY, thanks to increased customer demand for sponsored content. Sponsored content alone accounted for almost two-thirds of the company’s marketing solutions revenue. LinkedIn shut down its off-platform display ad network in February to increase its focus in sponsored content.
  • The percentage of total members who use LinkedIn on a monthly basis has declined to 23% from 24% in the prior three quarters. LinkedIn is attempting to increase that percentage by introducing new tools for job seekers, new products for advertisers and by completely redesigning the user interface on desktop and mobile. Earlier this month, LinkedIn enhanced its Newsfeed section, allowing users to have more control over the content and posts that are most relevant to them. The company also launched audience demographics for the nearly 3 million users that publish long-form articles on the platform, allowing content creators to see where their readers work, where they live and how they found a post.

The full LinkedIn Q3 2016 earnings report is available for download here.