LinkedIn Rocks, Dow Rolls, 117,000 New Jobs

 LinkedIn’s recent IPO and lofty valuation have made many speculators posit that the stock is overvalued. Others declared a “new bubble” in “Web 2” companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Groupon.

While yesterday the Dow suffered its worst loss in the past few years, LinkedIn surprised investors with better than expected earnings. On their first quarterly results reported since going public, LinkedIn recorded profits growing 5.1%. They reported a $4.5 million dollar profit on revenues that doubled to $121 million from $54.9 million last year. Analysts had expected a loss.

Times seem to be good at the popular social network. They continue to expand their staff and development efforts. All regular web metrics are up, including unique visitors (81.8 million/mo), pageviews, and member profile acquisition.

LinkedIn was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal week for the stock market and general economy. The recent new jobs figure of 117,000 new jobs may further assist LinkedIn, which is tied into the overall recruitment and hiring climate.