Pinterest shares rose on better-than-expected user numbers, even as earnings and revenue missed and the company gave weak guidance for the third quarter.
Activist investor Elliott Management confirmed separately who is Pinterest’s lead investor and said he has “conviction in the opportunity for value creation” in the company.
Here’s how the company did it.
Earnings: 11 adjusted cents per share vs. 18 cents per share expected, according to Refinitiv.income: $666 million vs. $667 million expected, according to Refinitiv.
Pinterest said Global monthly active users decreased 5% from the previous year to 433 million. While that kind of drop is alarming for a social media app that relies on eyeballs to attract advertisers, analysts expected a steeper decline to 431 million.
The company’s finances were bleak, following a trend in the social media market. Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and Snap reported second-quarter earnings that missed on the top and bottom lines, all blaming a weak online advertising market for their dismal results.
A woman walks past a sign at Pinterest’s headquarters in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.
Smith Collection | Cattle | Archive Photos | Getty Images
More concerning than the Q2 results was Pinterest’s comment on what to expect this quarter. The company said it expects third-quarter revenue to grow “by a mid-point of a year-over-year percentage,” below analysts’ projections for sales growth of 12.7 percent.
In a letter to investors, Pinterest said economic challenges are causing marketers to cut back on spending.
“The macroeconomic environment has created significant uncertainty for our advertising partners,” Pinterest said in the letter.” The company said it saw “lower-than-expected demand from large retailers and advertisers in the US mid-market, which reduced ad spending due to concerns. on weakening consumer demand.”
Pinterest said its guidance for the third quarter takes into account “slightly larger currency headwinds” than the previous quarter.
In June, Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann stepped down as the company’s CEO and was replaced by Bill Ready, formerly head of Google’s commerce unit. Pinterest’s hiring of Ready pointed to a deeper push into e-commerce and online retail.
Elliott’s involvement with the company was reported in July by The Wall Street Journal, which said at the time that the firm had built a stake of more than 9% in the company. After Pinterest’s results were released on Monday, Elliott confirmed that he is the company’s largest shareholder and said he is pleased with Ready’s progress.
“As the market-leading platform at the intersection of social, search and commerce, Pinterest is uniquely positioned in the advertising and shopping ecosystems, and CEO Bill Ready is the right leader to oversee the next phase of growth from Pinterest,” Elliott said in a statement.
I WILL SEE: Earnings Exchange looks at Pinterest, Caterpillar and JetBlue
[ad_2]
Source link
