The numbers: LinkedIn posted a $1 million loss in the second quarter, down from the $3.7 million profit the career networking website recorded during the same period last year. The website lost 1 cent per share during the quarter on sales of $534 million that increased 47% year-over-year. Analysts had predicted LinkedIn (LNKD) would come out with revenue of $511 million for the quarter. The company estimates that its third-quarter revenue will fall between $543 million and $547 million
The takeaway: The $322 million in revenue from LinkedIn’s talent solutions unit, which includes job listings, represents a 49% increase and also made up 60% of the website’s total sales for the quarter. That outpaced the company’s marketing unit and premium subscriptions, which contributed 20% each to the total revenue. Connecting employers with prospective employees seems to be a big part of LinkedIn’s attempt to distance itself from the perception of the website as an online resumé service. CEO Jeff Weiner pointed specifically to the expanded job listings service as a sign of LinkedIn’s progress in the company’s earnings release.
What’s interesting: LinkedIn paid about $120 million to acquire job search startup Bright in February to help grow the job listings service, which the company said Thursday now lists one million jobs online. The company also noted the growth of its professional publishing platform, which it says has seen traffic to publisher and “Influencer” posts more than double since the platform launched in February. LinkedIn also recently paid an undisclosed amount to buy startup Newsle, which will allow the company to alert users when their contacts are mentioned in news stories.
After closing Thursday down 3.6%, LinkedIn’s shares climbed more than 8.5% in after-hours trading.
