LinkedIn IPO raises 30 percent

LinkedIn has raised the price of its initial public offering by 30 percent sensing the fact that there is a stronger demand for the new stock option. The company will set its price this Wednesday night and will begin trading on the NYSE under the symbol LNKD on Thursday. The stock was originally set out to sell 7.84 million shares at $32 to $35 apiece and now the price range is $42 to $45, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

LinkedIn’s IPO is being managed by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

See top stories in the WDM Content Network:

• Top Ten Biggest Brands
• Click here to read the latest edition of Business Review USA

The Wall Street Journal brings up an interesting point by saying that a company that increases its price range by $10 is a sign that investors are “jockeying for shares ahead of the offering and are willing to pay far more than the company was originally asking in order to get a piece of the IPO.” The change in stock price now values the company at about $4 billion, up from the $3 billion that it would have been with the previous pricing.

The Journal also writes that in 2010, net revenue at LinkedIn doubled to $243 million and net income was $15.4 million, compared with a loss of $4 million a year earlier. In the first quarter of 2011, net revenue also doubled to $94 million and net income rose 14 percent to $2.1 million from a year earlier.

“LinkedIn expects its revenue growth rate to slow and warns that it won't be profitable in 2011 as it invests in what it calls future growth: technology, product development, sales and marketing, and international expansions. It also warns that it expects that its results in the future could become more cyclical and seasonal,” the Journal writes.