LinkedIn buys data insight company Bright for $120M

CEO Weiner says acquisition is key to the long-term goal of improving LinkedIn's job relevance

In addition to releasing its Q4 earning results on Thursday, LinkedIn has also announced that it has made a new purchase in data insight company Bright.

The deal is worth $120 million, and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014. A number of members of Bright's team, including those from its Engineering and Product divisions, will be joinng LinkedIn.

Users of Bright, which as a company that leveraged data insights and matched technology to connect prospects and employers, will be able to access existing data on its website through February 28.

"We're excited to join LinkedIn because the company shares a similar vision and is equally obsessed about using data and algorithms to connect prospects and employers," Bright founder Eduardo Vivas said in a statement.

In a conference call following the release of the earnings report, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner discussed the purchase.

"Our long-term goal for talent solutions is to power half of customer's hires. The use of data will be integral to achieving that goal. To this end, today we announced our acquisition of Bright.com, a company that uses cutting edge data science and relevance algorithms to match job seekers and employers."

Bright, he said, is a big part of what is coming down the line for the company.

"As we start 2014, we are committed to making significant, long-term, investments in a small number of strategic initatives that will allow us to focus on fewer product priorities, while, at the same time, continuting to build out the economic graph at scale."

These iniatives include expanding the company's presence in China, extending LinkedIn as a professional publishing platform, a material increase in the volume of job opportunities available on LinkedIn and  "through the acquisition of Bright, improved relevance of  those opportunities so that, ultimately, our members don't need to find jobs, the right jobs will find them."

Earnings report

In the earnings report, LinkedIn posted non-GAAP earnings per share of 39 cents on revenue of $447.2 million, up 47% from $303 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts had been expecting EPS of 38 cents a share on revenue of $438.1 million. 

Net income for the quarter was $3.8 million, compared to net income of $11.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was $46.8 million, compared to $25.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2012.

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $111.4 million, or 25% of revenue, compared to $78.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, when it was 26% of revenue.

These numbers also beat LinkedIn's own estimates which had been to see revenue in the range of $415 million and $420 million for the fourth quarter, while adjusted EBITDA was expected to range between $98 million and $100 million. 

Talent Solutions took in $245.6 million, up 53% year to year. This sector represented 55% of the company's quarterly revenue, compared to 53% a year ago.

Revenue from Marketing Solutions was $113.5 million during the quarter, an increase of 36% year to year. It accounted for 25% of total revenue, compared to 27% in Q4 2012.. Premium Subscriptions brought in 20% of total revenue, or $88.1 million, up 48% year to year.

A total of $271.1 million, or 61% of LinkedIn’s revenue, came from the U.S., while $176.1 million, or 39%, came from international markets.

The company is expected Q1 2014 to see revenue between $455 and $460 million, with adjusted EBITDA expected to range between $106 million and $108 million. 

Analysts had been expecting revenue for the quarter to be $470 million.

For the full year 2014, revenue is expected to range between $2.02 billion and $2.05 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $490 million.

(Image source: https://www.bright.com)