LinkedIn had a solid third quarter after it exceeded its revenue estimates. The news comes five months after its planned merger with Microsoft was revealed.
The professional social networking site reported an increase of 23 percent to $960 million for Q3. Earnings per share (EPS) improved to $1.18 from $0.78 last year while the non-GAAP net income reached $163 million. Analysts projected a $959 million revenue and an EPS of $0.91.
The company's recruitment business, Talent Solutions, made up the bulk of their revenue with 24 percent year-over-year to $623 million, according to a report. Marketing Solutions, their ad business, raked in $175 million followed by $162 million from the company's premium subscriptions led by Sales Navigator.
Forbes stated that LinkedIn will no longer update its outlook for the whole year because of the impending sale to Microsoft. The company will also not host a conference call for the Q3 results.
Back in June, LinkedIn and Microsoft announced their plan for a merger. Microsoft will be paying $196 per share for a total of $26.2 billion. This is the largest sum the software company will dole out for an acquisition and it will be all be paid in cash. After stockholders voted to approve the merger, they expect the deal to be completed by the end of 2016.
LinkedIn's chief executive, Jeff Weinger, had this to say about their revenue and the merger: "In the third quarter, continued product investments across our platform drove another quarter of strong engagement and financial performance. As we look forward, our combination with Microsoft creates the opportunity for us to dramatically increase the impact and scale with which we deliver value to our members and customers.
The Microsoft-LinkedIn merger isn't without its detractors. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who lost the bidding war with Microsoft over LinkedIn, talked about giving more thought on the deal. Benioff mentioned that Microsoft "need[s] to be treated differently" because it is "the largest software company in the world". He added that the deal should face additional scrutiny.
Benioff recently pursued LinkedIn and Twitter but his plans to acquire both fell through. He shared that his plans with LinkedIn was completely different with what Microsoft has installed for them.
Twitter, meanwhile, is looking to sell but Salesforce shareholders got wind of the Benioff's plan and voiced their disagreement forcing him to axe the deal.
