The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: LinkedIn, Ford Motor, Boeing, Microsoft and General Motors

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 23, 2014 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD-Free Report), Ford Motor Co. (F-Free Report), Boeing Company (BA-Free Report), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT-Free Report) and General Motors Company (GM-Free Report).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

LinkedIn Hits 300 Million Members

LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD-Free Report) added another feather to its cap by registering 300 million global members, the company reported on Apr 18. Also, the professional networking company revealed that approximately 67% of the members are from outside U.S., reflecting the effectiveness of its expansionary initiatives. Notably, at the end of the fourth quarter (Dec 31, 2013), the company had 277 million members.

LinkedIn has witnessed strong membership growth in India and Brazil. Moreover, the company’s recent website launch in simplified Chinese is expected to connect Chinese professionals, thereby expanding its user base in the leading Internet market.

The company derives approximately 62% of the revenues from the U.S. (fiscal 2013) and the current growth of members outside the U.S. is a welcome sign for the company’s revenue diversification. Additionally, LinkedIn’s domestic subscriber count surpassed 100 million.

Moreover, LinkedIn remains optimistic about its mobile engagement. In the last reported quarter, the company’s mobile engagement was noteworthy as mobile represented 41% of the traffic.

LinkedIn expects mobile to account for 50% of the traffic. The company has estimated an average of 15 million profile views coupled with 1.45 million job views and 44K job applications through mobile.

The company’s decision to acquire SlideShare and Pulse has helped it to grow on the mobile platform. It also launched several apps that increased user engagement.

Ford to Name New CEO

Ford Motor Co. (F-Free Report) will make the official announcement of the promotion of Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mark Fields to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as early as the beginning of May, according to media reports. While it has been known for some time that Fields will succeed Alan Mulally when the latter steps down as the CEO, Ford had never made any official announcement related to it.

68-year old Mulally has been Ford’s president and CEO since Sep 5, 2006. He helped the automaker counter recessionary impacts, avoid bankruptcy and eventually generate higher profits. Prior to Ford, Mulally was part of The Boeing Company (BA-Free Report).

Towards the end of last year, rumors surfaced that he would become the next CEO of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT-Free Report) following the departure of Steve Ballmer. However, these rumors were put to rest earlier this year, when Satya Nadella was named as the successor. Moreover, Mulally made it clear that he intends to stay with Ford at least till 2014-end.

53-year old Fields has been Ford’s COO since Dec 2012. He is responsible for the daily operations of the company besides handling its weekly business plan review.

Fields has been responsible for making the North and South American businesses of Ford profitable. He, along with Mulally, protected the company from going bankrupt like General Motors Company (GM-Free Report) and Chrysler Group LLC during the recession. Before becoming Ford’s COO he also turned Japanese automaker Mazda profitable. Mazda was controlled by Ford at that time.

Ford will report its first-quarter earnings before the market opens on Apr 25, 2014. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the automaker’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 31 cents per share, down 23.7% year over year.

Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

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