Linkedin joins Twitter and Yelp in social media sin bin as results fall short
Business networking platform Linkedin has reported worse than expected financial results for the second quarter, following in the wake of similarly poor results at Twitter and reviews site Yelp.
Whilst the site actually posted a seemingly healthy 35 per cent uptick in sales for the first quarter, above and beyond what had been pencilled in, it was forced to issue a profit warning for the remainder of the year as the platform struggles with a strong dollar, weakening EU ad sales and rising research costs.
The disappointing numbers led LinkedIn’s share price to collapse by a quarter as investors deserted the business, fearful that its plans to monetise its offer may never be realised.
Markets have been spooked in recent days by a disastrous announcement by Twitter of its own profits stumble which saw the business lose a quarter of its own value. Yelp fared only slightly better than its bigger brothers, dropping 23 per cent as Wall Street digested its own less than stellar performance.
There are fears that many former internet darlings may have been overvalued during the current stock market boom, pointing to a period of correction as investors row back their expectations.