Pinterest posts earnings beat and announces Amazon ad partnership, but stock sinks 13% on forecast
By Emily Bary
CFO says company does not have 'visibility into an acceleration in demand'
Pinterest Inc. topped expectations Thursday and announced an advertising partnership with Amazon.com Inc., but its shares sank in aftermarket action as its forecast disappointed.
For the second quarter, Pinterest (PINS) expects that revenue will be approximately in line with the growth it saw in the most recent two quarters. Pinterest's sales grew 4.6% in the first quarter and 3.5% in the December quarter, but the FactSet consensus implied 6.0% growth for the second quarter.
"While Q1 growth was marginally better than Q4, we still do not have visibility into an acceleration in demand," Chief Financial Officer Todd Morgenfeld said on the earnings call, noting that "the ads market continues to be uncertain given the macroeconomic environment."
Pinterest also anticipates that operating income will grow at a low-teens percentage basis sequentially.
Shares fell 13.5% in after-hours trading.
The company reported a first-quarter net loss of $209 million, or 31 cents a share, whereas it recorded a loss of $5 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-earlier period. The company recognized $121 million of restructuring charges in the quarter.
Pinterest also reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of $27.0 million, down from $76.8 million a year before but ahead of the FactSet consensus, which was for breakeven performance.
Revenue rose to $603 million from $575 million, with growth in each region. The FactSet consensus was for $594 million.
Chief Executive Bill Ready said in the earnings release that Pinterest was "taking meaningful steps towards expanding our ads business by opening up third-party ad demand on Pinterest, starting with Amazon as our first partner."
A UBS analyst pegged the addition of demand partners as a potential catalyst in a March upgrade of the stock.
"Looking forward, we are excited to further leverage and satisfy the strong commercial intent of our users and deliver long-term shareholder value," Ready added.
Global monthly active users rose to 463 million from 450 million in the December quarter and 433 million in the year-earlier first quarter. Analysts had been expecting 454.6 million.
The company had 95 million MAUs in the U.S. and Canada, while analysts had been modeling 95.6 million. European monthly active users rose to 128 million, while analysts were looking for 124.4 million. In the rest of the world, Pinterest had 240 million MAUs, versus the 234.5 million FactSet consensus.
-Emily Bary
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April 27, 2023 21:14 ET (01:14 GMT)
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