LinkedIn again exceeds analysts’ predictions

Online professional-networking service LinkedIn’s fourth-quarter performance added another line to its sterling resume as a public company.

The results announced Thursday extended LinkedIn Corp.’s uninterrupted streak of exceeding analysts’ projections for both earnings and revenue. It marked the seventh consecutive quarter since LinkedIn’s May 2011 IPO that the company has pulled that off, to the delight of investors.

The run of pleasant surprises is one of the reasons that LinkedIn’s stock has tripled from its initial public offering price of $45. The shares surged $12.11, or nearly 10 percent, to $136.20 in extended trading after the numbers came out.