LinkedIn Corp (LNKD): The Secret Fact That Will Change Your Mind Forever

Monster’s North American revenue was down 3% on a year-over-year basis and up 4% sequentially. The economic and political environment in the U.S. remains mixed, largely driven by the cost covenants of sequestration, political gridlock and slower-than-normal recovery in the employment market. As a result, companies are not investing as much into corporate recruitment services. Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW)’s revenue in Asia-Pac was down 10% on a year-over-year basis and down 6% sequentially.

Why has LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) not reported numbers based on geography? What does it have to hide?

LinkedIn should be compared to Monster, CareerBuilder, or DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX), and not to other social networks. Because corporate recruiters and job hunters do not use Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Plus or Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) or Twitter in the same way that they do Monster, Dice, or LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a career placement service provider and should be compared to other career placement service companies.

Monster reported net income of $5 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same first quarter. That compares to $3.7 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Total revenue fell 9 percent to $212 million from $233.8 million, but it was still above the $210.5 million that analysts expected.

At DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX) revenues for the quarter totaled $50.4 million, an increase of 9% from $46.1 million in the comparable quarter of 2012. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 totaled $7.1 million, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $0.12 for the first quarter of 2013. Dice Holdings has a 1-year low of $6.95 and a 1-year high of $10.94. Dice does not break down earnings geographically, but by industry or employer segment (Tech, Energy, Finance, Other).

LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) may continue to look like a great buy for a while yet. It looks fantastic next to the competition. But sooner or later it will turn into one of the biggest bubble pops in Wall Street history. The company offers little value, and chooses to provide numbers to advertisers and customers that mask reality. Where are the real numbers of returning users by geography? How do we know that the returning daily users on the site are not all recruiters? Where are the studies that show concrete proof that LinkedIn is connecting users with employers? Where are the studies that prove that North American recruiters aren’t paying to reach 220 million users that are primarily only active in India?

LinkedIn continues to give me indigestion in the way that only a smoke and mirrors illusion about to crumble can.

The article LinkedIn Is a Smoke and Mirrors Illusion originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Erin McBride.

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