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Pinterest's profit miss dims strong revenue, user growth

Pinterest's profit miss dims strong revenue, user growth

CNA3 days ago
Pinterest missed Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit on Thursday, overshadowing robust revenue and user growth, sending its shares down over 8 per cent in extended trading.
The social media platform reported adjusted profit per share of 33 cents, missing analysts' average estimate of 35 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
However, revenue rose 17 per cent to $998.2 million, beating expectations of $974.8 million.
The growth was driven by a surge in Gen Z users—who now represent more than half of Pinterest's user base— and the platform's AI-powered tools, which have attracted advertisers seeking personalized and automated campaigns.
Pinterest's results follow Meta and Reddit's strong second quarter performance last week. In contrast, Snap reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in over a year.
The company's focus on direct-response ads, designed to prompt specific actions like shopping, app downloads, or website visits, continued to drive ad demand. Its stock has risen about 35 per cent so far this year.
"We've found our best product market fit ever by becoming a personalized shopping destination for users and an AI-powered performance platform for advertisers," CEO Bill Ready said in a statement.
Pinterest has third-party ad deals with Google, Amazon.com and advertising platform Magnite.
Global monthly active users on the platform rose 11 per cent to 578 million, exceeding estimates of 553 million.
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'I don't know how to help anymore': Woman opens up about nearly three years of job hunt support and financial aid for best friend
'I don't know how to help anymore': Woman opens up about nearly three years of job hunt support and financial aid for best friend

Independent Singapore

time11 hours ago

  • Independent Singapore

'I don't know how to help anymore': Woman opens up about nearly three years of job hunt support and financial aid for best friend

SINGAPORE: After nearly three years of helping her best friend with both money and job hunting, a woman shared on Reddit that she's now unsure how to support her any further. Opening up on the r/askSingapore forum on Saturday (Aug 9), the woman explained that when her best friend lost her job, she stepped in to help. She assisted with the job search, went through her resume to improve it, and even offered to speak to her own bosses to see if there were any suitable openings. Working in the public sector herself, she also encouraged her best friend to take advantage of government initiatives like SkillsFuture and e2i. Unfortunately, despite her efforts, nothing worked out. Her best friend also brushed off her suggestion about taking steps to upgrade her skills, choosing instead to 'complain about how tough the job market is' and 'blame the companies who didn't hire her.' She also noticed that in nearly three years of unemployment, her best friend had only submitted about '100 applications and attended 10 interviews.' Over time, another issue began to weigh on her. The woman revealed that she, along with two other close friends, has been quietly covering her best friend's expenses whenever they go out. 'When we go out, my best friend rarely pays for anything. In the beginning, she would still insist on paying her share, but we would always convince her to let us cover it.' 'After a while, she stopped offering altogether. When we travelled together last year, we paid for her hotel, transport, and meals too,' she wrote, adding that while these gestures were meant to help, they have now become an unspoken expectation. The woman admitted she is beginning to question whether her friend is genuinely putting in the effort to find work or is simply in denial about her situation. 'It's really sad to see her like this. I honestly don't know how to help anymore. She still hasn't found a job, and I know it's affecting her relationships with her family and boyfriend, too. Sometimes I wonder if we should continue supporting her financially, but it feels weird to just stop now,' she wrote. The woman also mentioned that when she brought up the financial issue with her close friends, they agreed that it had indeed 'become a problem.' However, none of them had the heart to confront her. 'When I brought this up with my close friends, they agreed it's a problem, but none of us really feel comfortable talking about it. Honestly, I feel conflicted and feel like a bad friend for posting this.' See also MOM reports decrease in retrenchments, growth in employment for Q3 Seeking advice, she asked the Reddit community, 'How do I help my best friend?? Despite what's happened in the past few years, she's been a really dear friend and has helped me through some difficult heartbreaks.' 'Willingness to change has to come from her.' In the comments, many Singaporean Redditors praised the woman for being such a caring and supportive friend, saying it's rare for someone to stick by another through years of unemployment. At the same time, they cautioned her about the risks of helping too much for too long, pointing out that it could eventually hurt her own finances, mental health, and even the friendship itself. Several suggested that she set clear boundaries and have an open, honest talk with her friend about the situation, even if it feels awkward. One Redditor wrote, 'I suggest you sit her down and give it to her straight – let her know it's not sustainable for y'all to be paying for her and that she needs to woman up and change her mindset or upskill. Sounds harsh but I believe that you have to be honest, because if not, you'll enable this behaviour. If she's worth her salt as your friend, she'll eventually thank you.' Another commented, 'You and your friends have been enabling her lifestyle. Why? If y'all keep helping, your friend won't feel the need to change. The best thing y'all can do is cut her off financially ASAP. Once your friend realises that her lifestyle is no longer subsidised, she will look for opportunities to earn to upkeep the lifestyle.' A third remarked, 'Paying for her is supporting her bad behaviour. Tough love is needed, as others have said. Now it is like she is rewarded for being jobless. Willingness to change has to come from her.' In other news, a fresh graduate took to social media on Monday (Aug 4) to express his frustration with his job search, saying that many of the positions he is aiming for appear to have already been filled by foreigners In an anonymous post on the r/singaporeraw subreddit, he shared that he has followed the conventional path diligently. He enrolled in one of Singapore's top three universities, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), earned an engineering degree, did internships to build up experience, and graduated with Honours with Merit. Read more: 'Really buey tahan': NTU graduate says job opportunities are going to foreigners

'No, Thanks' is sold out?: Redditor shares being unable to checkout at a McDonald's kiosk without buying a lunch bag
'No, Thanks' is sold out?: Redditor shares being unable to checkout at a McDonald's kiosk without buying a lunch bag

Independent Singapore

time13 hours ago

  • Independent Singapore

'No, Thanks' is sold out?: Redditor shares being unable to checkout at a McDonald's kiosk without buying a lunch bag

Photo: Canva Free Image Library SINGAPORE: A viral image circulating on Reddit and other social platforms has drawn attention to a strange—and unintentionally hilarious—checkout experience at a McDonald's self-service kiosk in Singapore. The image shows a promotional screen offering a $7.90 lunch bag add-on, with two options: 'Lunch Bag' and 'No, thanks!' But here's the kicker: the 'No, thanks' button is greyed out, with the message 'Sold Out' displayed in it. Photo: Reddit At first glance, it seems like a simple UI bug. But to anyone familiar with point-of-sale (POS) systems or e-commerce software, this isn't just a humorous design oversight but a glimpse into how digital infrastructure can affect consumer interaction in surprising ways. It also gave netizens plenty of meme fuel. 'You know the economy is bad when they run out of 'No, Thanks!' to sell lol,' one commented. Another joked: 'What the? It's sold out to NOT buy something now!' How does a 'No' get sold out? POS systems often treat all selections—whether they add a product or not—as part of a structured item inventory logic. Typically, promotional add-ons (like a lunch bag or a toy) are entered into the system as products with stock-keeping units (SKUs). In this case, the 'Yes' option clearly corresponds to an actual item with inventory. However, what likely happened is that the 'No, thanks' button was also mistakenly configured as an item with limited stock—probably as a dummy placeholder with an assigned quantity, say 9999 units. This would make sense from a backend perspective, where each option (even refusal) is logged as a selection to complete the flow. But once enough users choose 'No,' that quantity could tick down like a regular product. Eventually, the system thinks the 'No' inventory has been depleted—and thus greys it out like any out-of-stock item. As one Redditor speculated: 'Did they put 9999 qty for that item or something?' This isn't the first time digital menus have come under scrutiny. Whether it's unskippable upsell pop-ups, default tip suggestions, or greyed-out cancellation options, customers are becoming increasingly savvy to how interface design can be used to steer behaviour. () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });

Meta's US$29 billion deal marks pivotal moment for private credit
Meta's US$29 billion deal marks pivotal moment for private credit

Business Times

time19 hours ago

  • Business Times

Meta's US$29 billion deal marks pivotal moment for private credit

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