LinkedIn shares have seen a steady rise since being listed in the New York Stock Exchange Shares of LinkedIn fell more than 10% in after-hours trading in New York, after it issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for the current quarter.It said it expects revenues of between $342 to $347m (£220m to £223m) in the April to June quarter. Most analysts had expected a figure closer to $359m.
That raised concerns that LinkedIn's pace of growth may be slowing.
The weak forecast came despite the firm reporting that first quarter profit more than quadrupled from a year ago.
LinkedIn made a net profit of $22.6m in the three months to the end of March, up from $5m during the same period a year earlier.
'Very small scale'An increasing number of users of social networking sites are now accessing these portals on their mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs.
The screens of these gadgets are much smaller, compared with traditional PCs and laptops.
As a result, social networking sites which rely heavily on advertising revenue for growth, are being forced to come up with solutions to be able to sell adverts on the mobile versions of their portals.LinkedIn said that its revenue in the current quarter will be impacted as it looks to adopt a new approach to advertising, especially in the mobile segment.
"We are seeing some encouraging early signs, but it's of a very small scale right now," said Steve Sordello, head of finance at LinkedIn.
However, there have been some signs recently that some firms may have been able to find a solution to the issue.
On Wednesday, Facebook - the world's biggest social networking firm - reported that mobile advertising now accounts for almost 30% of its overall advertising revenue.
Victim of success?LinkedIn, a social networking platform focussed on professionals, has enjoyed tremendous success since its launch.
Continue reading the main story It now has 218 million registered users, with an increasing number of professionals and firms using the portal for recruitment purposes.Revenue from its Talent Solutions, which offers recruitment tools, rose to $184.3m in the January to March quarter, an 80% jump from a year ago.
Driven by its growing popularity, the firm's financial results have consistently topped market expectations in recent quarters.
As a result, it has seen its share price surge more than 80% in the past 12 months.
Analysts said that investors had become used to the company beating market forecasts and that the weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter had disappointed them.
"The stock is somewhat a victim of its own success," said Kerry Rice, an analyst with Needham & Co.
"They had a really big acceleration in [the] fourth quarter. So I think the market kind of expected similar results in [the] first quarter and throughout 2013."
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