LinkedIn’s Q3 2016 membership increased 18% to 467 million

LinkedIn ($LNKD) released the results of its third quarter financial earnings today with revenue of $960 million, an annual increase of 23 percent, and an earnings per share of $1.18.

Wall Street analysts expected the company to generate $959.35 million in revenue, with an EPS of $0.91. The company’s stock closed down 0.35 percent at $188.63, but in after-hours trading, it’s risen by 0.17 percent.

Membership numbers for the company continue to improve, as LinkedIn now counts 467 million users, a 17 million user boost from last quarter and an 18 percent year-over-year increase. As for members who frequent the social network monthly, that number has grown 6 percent to 106 million.

As has been typical for the company, Talent Solutions has produced the most revenue, at $623 million, which is a 24 percent annual increase. Marketing Solutions, which involves its sponsored content, has also grown 26 percent to $175 million, while Premium Subscriptions for sales professionals has gone up 17 percent to $162 million.

Some of the updates that were made in the last quarter include the launch of LinkedIn Learnings, the first native integration of the company’s acquisition of Lynda.com; a refresh of its endorsement tool; a stealth job search feature; conversion tracking for sponsored updates; the extension of its ProFinder service to everyone in the U.S.; and more.

“In Q3, continued product investments across our platform drove another quarter of strong engagement and financial performance,” said LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner. “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.”

While some may consider this a lame duck period for LinkedIn as the professional social networking company continues to integrate with Microsoft, its soon-to-be parent, others have expressed concern about the deal itself, saying that scrutiny on the part of the European Union means the deal may be in jeopardy. If that is the case, it could open the door for a potential competitor, say Salesforce, to re-engage and steal LinkedIn from under Microsoft’s nose.

Currently, both Microsoft and LinkedIn expect the deal to close by the end of this year. As a result, LinkedIn said it will not be updating its fiscal 2016 outlook, nor will it be holding a conference call for investors to discuss its third quarter results.

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