SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — LinkedIn began the year with its largest quarterly loss since going public as the online professional networking service ramped up its investments in projects aimed at attracting more users on the lookout for better jobs and career advice.

Despite the setback, the first-quarter results announced Thursday surpassed the analyst projections that sway investors. LinkedIn has cleared Wall Street’s financial hurdles in all 12 of its quarters as a public company, a stretch dating back to May 2011.