Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, social media has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. These companies have been successful on the premise that we must know what each other is doing at a moment’s notice. Now that they are all publicly traded companies, lofty expectations have been placed on them to grow their user base, increase revenue, and expand out of social media, all at the same time.

Photo Credit: Andreas Eldh

Facebook has largely lived up to the expectations, Linkedin was steadily improving until its takeover by Microsoft, and Twitter is still struggling to find its identity.

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Facebook (FB) Information Technology – Internet Software & Services

Facebook is still one of the most impressive names in this space despite hitting some speed bumps recently. The social media company continues to top earnings and revenue expectations driven by strength in its mobile platform and strategic acquisitions. The upcoming quarter will be the first to feature sales figures from the highly anticipated Oculus Rift. Virtual reality is expected to be one of the fastest growing sectors, providing a new source of revenue moving forward. This should help offset the blow Facebook is about to take after years of over-inflating its video metrics. This type of deception will certainly have a short-term impact on advertising revenue. Additionally, SnapChat is on pace to become a legitimate threat to Facebook’s core business, sooner rather than later. The Evan Spiegel run company currently boasts 60 million daily users in the U.S. and Canada, about a third of what Facebook has in these markets. Lofty expectations have still been placed on Facebook to blow out its third quarter report. The Estimize consensus is calling for earnings per share of $1.02 on $7.01 billion in revenue. Compared to a year earlier that represents a 75% increase on the bottom line and 54% on the top.

LinkedIn (LNKD) Information Technology – Internet Software & Services

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network to date with no clear competitor in sight. The recent takeover by Microsoft is sure to shake things up but it doesn’t change the fact that LinkedIn is gaining traction. Before the acquisition, LinkedIn’s stock has slowly rebounded from its post FQ4 2015 sell-off that saw the stock get cut in half. Three key metrics investors use to evaluate the company had been steadily improving. They include, talent solutions, marketing solutions and premium subscriptions, all of which climbed double digits from a year earlier. Linkedin is well positioned in the e-learning space with its 2015 acquistion of Lynda.com. The company recently launched LinkedIn Learning, a new product that combines Lynda.com classes with LinkedIn’s social graph. This is determined to help job seekers improve their qualifications and ultimately connect them with the appropriate opportunities. Upward revisions over the past 3 months would suggest analysts are high on LinkedIn this upcoming quarter. The Estimize consensus is calling for earnings per share of $1.06 on $965.40 million in revenue, about 25% higher on both the top and bottom line.

Twitter (TWTR) Information Technology – Internet Software & Services

Shares cratered last week after every potential suitor withdrew their bid to acquire the social media company. Its widely believed that Twitter is overvalued at a $15+ market cap given its dwindling user base and spotty financials. The company is not even in the top 3 when it comes to DAU and MAU; Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are all ahead of Twitter. Without any clear bidder in sight, Twitter will be left to its own devices. This means earnings and revenue will continue to struggle while shareholders jump ship. Shares are down nearly 12% in the past 30 days and as we head into the heart of earnings season.

Twitter is actively trying to re engage its user base through strategic content partnerships. A contract with the NFL will stream every Thursday Night Football game on Twitter along with normal CBS/NBC programming. In its first few weeks this has been extremely successful in re-engaging and adding new users. Expectations for the third quarter are still relatively low and will continue to be until Twitter can generate evidence of sustainable growth.