Pinterest beats revenue on user addition, lifts 2019 sales forecast

Pinterest raised its full-year sales forecast and reported second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as the online scrapbook company added more users, sending its shares up 12% in extended trading.

The company said monthly active users rose 30% in the quarter to 300 million globally, significantly above estimates, and the global average revenue per user surged 27.5% to 88 cents.

“These numbers better demonstrate the strength of the Pinterest platform and fast adoption among both consumers and advertisers,” said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Baird Equity Research.

The results were driven by a combination of international and U.S. growth and were also positively impacted by a delayed Easter this year, the company said.
“Pinterest has delivered exactly what investors were looking for,” said James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities.

The San Francisco, California-based company said it expects 2019 revenue between $1.095 billion and $1.115 billion (£903 million and £920 million), compared with its prior forecast of $1.055 billion to $1.08 billion.

Total revenue in the second quarter rose 62% to $261 million, above analysts’ estimate of $235.5 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Shares of Pinterest, the most high-profile social media company to list in the United States since Snap Inc in 2017, have risen about 50% since initial public offering in April.