LinkedIn’s earnings per share crashed more than 26 percent after its first-quarter results fell short of investors expectations, its revenue decreased by $5 million over last quarter.
Analysts at investment company Raymond James expected a revenue of $642 million, while the professional social network reported revenue of $638 million for the first quarter.
The California-based company holds 15.1 percent of the market shares in the social media industry, trailing behind Facebook, which owns 65 percent, and Twitter, which owns 16.2 percent.
Premium subscriptions earned LinkedIn $122 million in revenue, up 28 percent year over year, but still fell short of analysts’ predictions of $126 million.
The lack of growth may be due to the decline in marketing solutions, where the company derives a sizable amount of its revenue, usually around 20 percent.
Marketing solutions faced considerable headwinds during the first quarter as LinkedIn had to train its sales forces on the business-to-business marketing startup Bizo it acquired last year for $175 million. Once the sales force is trained, analysts believe Bizo could become a high-earner for LinkedIn.
LinkedIn CFO Steve Sordello said in his planned remarks that Bizo has positioned the company to be the most effective marketing solution for reaching professionals.
