By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- LinkedIn Corp. shares fell Friday
as the company's disappointing outlook rattled Wall Street, even
though analysts were cautiously upbeat on the social network's
expansion plan, including an ambitious push in China.
LinkedIn (LNKD) fell 6.2% to close at $209.59, as the tech
sector posted modest gains that saw the Nasdaq Composite Index
(RIXF) edge higher by 1.7% to close at 4,126. The benchmark ended
the week with a 0.5% gain.
LinkedIn reported a weaker-than-expected forecast that offset
what was generally seen as solid fourth-quarter results. But the
professional social network also said it planned to boost
investments significantly as it eyes other areas of growth.
In fact, LinkedIn announced Thursday that it was buying Bright,
a data analytics firm, for $120 million. The company already
signaled even bigger plans, including an aggressive push into a
major market, China.
During Thursday's earnings call, LinkedIn Chief Executive Jeff
Weiner spoke of "key strategic multiyear initiatives," including
"the expansion of our presence in China, where today we already
have 4 million members, but where nearly one in five of the world's
knowledge workers and students live."
Wedbush analyst Shyam Patil said LinkedIn's China push could be
"very meaningful," given that "20% of knowledge workers are in
China." But that effort "will probably take time to ramp," he told
MarketWatch.
Still, RBC Capital's Mark Mahaney said it's impressive that
LinkedIn has become geographically-diversified "in a relatively
short time."
"Could this actually be the first major U.S. Internet company to
succeed in China?" he told clients in a note. "We believe the
company is fundamentally a very good growth asset, with a very
healthily diversified."
Other analysts also note that LinkedIn has had a history of
beating its own expectations. The company also has continued to
post robust growth.
"For those who are overly concerned about the outlook, they
exceeded the top line of revenue," BGC Partners analyst Colin
Gillis told MarketWatch. "They have a long history of upside
surprise....It's still a fantastic business."
Apple (AAPL) shares climbed 1.4% to close at $519.68 on news
that the tech giant was buying back $14 billion of its shares.
Shares of Expedia (EXPE) also rallied 14.3% to close at $74.45
after the online travel site beat Street estimates.
Activision Blizzard (ATVI) also saw its stock jump 14.4% to
close at $19.64 after the videogame company's results exceeded
expectations.
Other must-reads from MarketWatch:
Ugly-looking jobs report is beautiful on the inside
Google takes a stand with Olympic rainbow Doodle
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires