LinkedIn share price bonanza could green-light other IPOs

There's been a lot of speculation about numerous internet behemoths going public on the stock market, so all eyes were on LinkedIn's share ticker on Thursday as the firm hit the New York Stock Exchange.

And all eyes were soon rolling upwards as LinkedIn's share price doubled from $45 to $90.49 within four minutes of the opening bell, and had hit an all-time high (admittedly in one day of trading) of a whopping $115.09 per share by 11:48am.

No doubt those who stuck a wedge of cash in the business version of Facebook would have been patting themselves heartily on the back as fortunes were made - on a company that turned a profit of just $15m in 2010.

How LinkedIn performs today will be of interest; was day one nothing more than frenzy based on novelty, or do the financial whizz kids of Wall Street see something in LinkedIn that appeals to their monetary senses?

The firm's performance in the coming months could well be the reason that other giants of the social media world, such as Facebook, Twitter, Groupon and gaming firm Zynga, which owns the bizarrely popular Farmville, go public. Or not.

The smart money would suggest it'd be good to get some stock in these companies before the trading bell rings if they float based on LinkedIn's early rises. But others will see the money involved as further signs that we're in a second tech bubble.

One public offering is hardly a bubble in itself, but the money involved is amazing; LinkedIn's paltry $15m profit was its first in four years, while sites like Facebook are valued in the countless billions owing to huge numbers of loyal subscribers.

However, both rely primarily on the age-old cash cow of advertising for the majority of their revenues, alongside more capricious income streams such as Facebook's developer fees or Twitter streams in Google and Bing searches.

Irrespective of the financial unknowns, executives and shareholders in LinkedIn no doubt spent a pleasant night smoking cigars lit by $50 bills as their investments made them more money in one hour and 48 minutes than most will earn in a year.

20 May 2011