Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, online professional network operator LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at LinkedIn's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

LinkedIn facts

Headquarters (founded) Mountain View, Calif. (2002)
Market Cap $12.6 billion
Industry Internet information providers
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $723.9 million
Management Co-founder/Chairman Reid Hoffman CEO Jeffrey Weiner
Trailing-12-Month Return on Equity 2.2%
Cash/Debt $617.1 million / $0
Competitors Facebook
Jigsaw Data
Monster Worldwide

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 74% of the 1,186 members who have rated LinkedIn believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

A few months ago, one of those Fools, CrimsonViking, succinctly summed up the LinkedIn bear case for our community:

The free competition is immense and the business model is unproven. As a user myself, I have never paid the company a dime and see no reason I will do so in the near future, which doesn't bode well for the profitability of the company. Given the excessive valuation and poor prospects for the kind of profitability necessary to maintain it in the long term relative to the S&P 500, I expect LinkedIn to underperform over the next five years.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. We've found another growth play we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Only Stock You Need to Profit from the NEW Technology Revolution." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.