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LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner sees brighter future because of this

Stronger than expected performance at LinkedIn: CEO
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Stronger than expected performance at LinkedIn: CEO

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said Wednesday some of the company's bets are starting to pay off, leading him to see a brighter future for the firm.

One of these bets includes a relaunch of the social media platform's mobile app, he said, which took place in the second half of last year.

"I think we've seen stronger-than-expected performance relative to our own plan internally. As the year progresses, we get better visibility into how we're performing," Weiner told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

Weiner made his comments after LinkedIn reported better-than-expected quarterly results, sending the shares higher.

The solid results were welcome news after the company's shares plummeted in February on its dim outlook for the first quarter of 2016.

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The company said it saw adjusted first-quarter earnings of 74 cents on $861 million in revenue. Analysts, meanwhile, had expected LinkedIn to report earnings of about 60 cents per share on $828 million in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Weiner said in the earnings report that, "as a result of our new mobile experience, members are increasing their activity on LinkedIn, helping drive strong levels of engagement across the platform."

The stock traded closed 2 percent higher Friday.

Wall Street experts were mostly pleased with the quarter, with at least a dozen analyst firms raising their price targets on the stock. Piper Jaffray, one of those firms, raise its target to $180 from $175.

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"LinkedIn got back on track with a 4% Q1 beat vs the Street and slightly higher Q2 guide," Piper said in a Thursday note to clients.

"We believe the earnings report in-line with historical comps and a better-than-typical guide should give investors more confidence in LinkedIn's guidance for the year and derisk numbers for the near-term following the less optimistic commentary on the Talent Solutions segment from last quarter."

The stock closed at $125.31.

— CNBC's Everett Rosenfeld contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Piper Jaffray is a market maker for LinkedIn