Pinterest just slapped Wall Street across the face with an earnings beat, and the stock exploded 20% after hours, as if nobody expected this glorified vision board app to actually make any money. Revenue landed at $1.15 billion, slightly ahead of the $1.14 billion Wall Street had penciled in, which isn’t exactly a jaw-dropping beat—but in a world where missing by a fraction of a percent can tank a stock, every little win counts.

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More importantly, adjusted EBITDA crushed at $470.9 million, proving that when you’re not hemorrhaging money on failed “shopping in the metaverse” experiments or fighting congressional hearings, you can actually run a profitable social media company. The real mic drop moment? User growth absolutely mooned. 

For instance, Pinterest’s global monthly active users hit 553 million, an 11% increase year over year—and unlike, the engagement-farm hellscapes of Meta and X, Pinterest’s audience actually pulls out their wallets, which is why average revenue per user hit $2.12, blowing past the Street’s weak $2.09 estimate.

(Source: CNBC) 

CEO Bill Ready, presumably pinning himself to his own “Success” board at this moment, boasted on the win by saying how “our strategy is paying off” and how Pinterest has never been “more actionable.” Normally, that’s the kind of cookie-cutter CEO fodder that means nothing, but in this case, he’s got a point. While every other platform is out here flailing around trying to fix broken ad models, fend off regulators, or convince investors that AI hallucinations are the future, Pinterest is just quietly stacking wins by doing what it does best—getting people to fantasize about things they can buy and then making sure advertisers are there to close the deal.

Additionally, this is just another signal that advertisers are spending again. Snap popped due to the same growth after its earnings, and Meta is still high on its Q4 clinic—and now, Pinterest is proving that the ad market is alive and well—at least for those who know how to capitalize on it. Which is why Pinterest (compared to competitors) is uniquely positioned in this advertising splurge. How so? Because Pinterest users aren’t just doom-scrolling—they’re actively looking for things to buy.

(Source: CNBC) 

To top it off, Pinterest didn’t just beat expectations this quarter—it basically told investors to strap in for more. First-quarter revenue guidance came in between $837 million and $852 million, solidly ahead of what analysts were hoping for. And now, the same analysts who shrugged off Pinterest as a niche platform for bored suburban moms are scrambling to upgrade their ratings. Prime example is Bernstein, who just upgraded the stock post-earnings, calling it a “show me story” that finally delivered. Love to see it. 

In the end, Pinterest just reminded everyone it still exists—and that it’s making real money while doing it. If this momentum holds, it might finally force Wall Street to take it seriously instead of treating it like a second-rate social media stock people forget about until earnings day.

(Source: Giphy) 

For now, Pinterest is continuing its ascent (up 17.94% on the day)—so with that, keep an eye on engagement trends and ad efficiency—because if Pinterest keeps proving it can convert eyeballs into dollars better than its peers, this rally might just be getting started. As always, stay safe and stay frosty, friends! Until next time…

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Stocks.News holds positions in Meta and Snap Inc. as mentioned in the article.