Latest news with #BillReady
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Social Media Stock Just Beat Expectations in a Tough Quarter. Is Now the Right Time to Buy?
Pinterest defied Q1 advertising slowdown trends with record user growth. The untapped potential in Pinterest's global user base hints at a revenue opportunity that investors might be overlooking. Pinterest's AI-powered ad technology leverages unique user intent to deliver superior results, outperforming traditional campaigns. 10 stocks we like better than Pinterest › Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) stock surged 12.39% on May 12, a few days after the company delivered a surprisingly strong Q1 earnings report. The numbers were hard to ignore. Revenue topped estimates. User growth increased to an all-time high. Margins moved in the right direction. And Pinterest pulled this off in what's typically the slowest stretch of the year for digital advertising. Still, it's hardly a liftoff. The stock's up on the year, but it's well below its pandemic-era peak. Even after a stronger Q1, Pinterest is trading more than 20% below where it was this time last year. It looks underpriced, but is Pinterest a buy? Let's pin down the details and see. First quarters tend to be sleepy for ad-driven businesses. Post-holiday lull. Budget resets. Not much to see. But Pinterest bucked the trend. Revenue rose 16% year over year to $855 million. Monthly active users (MAUs) across the globe climbed to a record high of 570 million, a 10% increase. While it missed slightly on earnings per share (EPS), costs grew more slowly than revenue. Most notably, Pinterest turned a profit, posting $9 million in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) net income after a loss in the same quarter last year. In short; Pinterest didn't just grow. It got more efficient. And it's turning that scale into profit. Pinterest's improving finances owe much to its global business kicking into gear. In fact, the standout in Q1 wasn't the U.S. or Europe, but its "Rest of World" segment, the fastest-growing yet most undermonetized part of its business. Let's look at the spread. Region Monthly Average Users (Millions) Average Revenue Per User (USD) Revenue Growth YoY U.S. & Canada 102 6.54 +12% Europe 148 1.00 +24% Rest of World 320 0.14 +49% Data source: Pinterest Q1 2025 earnings report. Monthly average users (MAUs) in "Rest of World" climbed 14% to 320 million, and average revenue per user (ARPU) jumped 29%. That pushed revenue in the segment up 49%, far outpacing other regions. It's still just 5.3% of Pinterest's revenue, but the trajectory is steep. If Pinterest can close even part of the monetization gap abroad, this region could become a major driver of future growth. To put it in perspective: If "Rest of World" reached just half of Europe's ARPU, it would have brought in $13 million more than Europe this quarter. At $2.08, it would have eclipsed revenue from the U.S. and Canada. Pinterest's ARPU surge last quarter didn't happen by accident. It's the result of a platform designed around user intent -- and an ad system getting smarter about how to monetize it. CEO Bill Ready emphasized this on the Q1 earnings call by calling Pinterest a "shopping destination." Not because users come looking for something to buy, but because they come looking for ideas. This makes Pinterest a goldmine for advertisers because user intent is baked into the platform. Performance+ -- Pinterest's new AI-powered ad suite -- is built to monetize that intent. It's turning user behavior into better results, beating traditional campaigns in 80% of A/B tests. In other words, advertisers are getting more conversions with less friction, making it a powerful tool for unlocking under-monetized users. Adoption is still early, but in Q1, shopping ad revenue in Europe and "Rest of World" grew more than three times faster than overall regional revenue. For a platform with hundreds of millions of under-monetized users, that's not just encouraging -- it's a glimpse at how scalable monetization, powered by AI, could accelerate Pinterest's growth trajectory. With a trailing P/E around 12, Pinterest is trading at a discount to most of its social media peers (Meta's P/E is about 25). And that's despite record engagement, improving margins, and a growing pool of monetizable users. More importantly, the company is trimming costs and turning a profit. It's leaner, more focused, and has plenty of room left to run. Pinterest has plenty of momentum, but real risks remain. Privacy regulation is tightening, especially in Europe where new data rules may limit the effectiveness of ad targeting. Advertising budgets may also shrink if economic conditions soften or interest rates stay high. And while Performance+ is promising, it's still new and hasn't been fully tested. None of this derails Pinterest's strong first quarter, but it does mean the company has to execute cleanly to stay on this trajectory. While it's not without risk, Pinterest's growth story is compelling. With a growing user base, improving monetization, and a valuation that leaves room to rerate, it looks like a long-term winner in the making. For investors with a multi-year view, Pinterest is worth buying today. Before you buy stock in Pinterest, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Pinterest wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $642,582!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $829,879!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 975% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 Steven Porrello has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pinterest. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This Social Media Stock Just Beat Expectations in a Tough Quarter. Is Now the Right Time to Buy? was originally published by The Motley Fool
CNBC
20-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Pinterest CEO on the company's shift toward positivity: using AI to reduce social media harms
Pinterest CEO Bill Ready joins CNBC's Julia Boorstin at the 2025 CNBC CEO Council Summit to discuss the platform's major shift toward positivity and how it utilizes AI to reduce social media toxicity.
TechCrunch
14-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Pinterest finally admits mass bans were a mistake caused by an ‘internal error'
Pinterest has now publicly apologized for the wave of moderation issues that have swept across the social network over the past few weeks, leading to account bans and Pin removals that users said were unwarranted. In posts published to social media Tuesday, the company took responsibility for the issue, saying that an 'internal error' led to some users' accounts mistakenly being deactivated. The company didn't share more details about what caused the error, though many have wondered if the bans were driven by an overreliance on AI-powered moderation. The problems have led to unrest and anger among Pinterest's user community. People complained the company ignored their concerns and said it wasn't being transparent about the problem or how it was being addressed. For weeks, Pinterest users have been reporting the mass bans in the comment sections of Pinterest's social media posts, on the Pinterest subreddit, and elsewhere. Reddit users, for instance, regularly complained the deactivations and removals made no sense, as their actions and posts didn't violate Pinterest's policies. In a pinned megathread on Reddit, users lamented the sudden loss of their Pins and Boards without reason, while others responded more in anger and frustration. One group of users even threatened legal action over the mass bans. Some suggested targeting Pinterest CEO Bill Ready and other execs on LinkedIn with their complaints. All the while, Pinterest didn't officially comment on the matter until May 1, when it posted on X that 'we hear your concerns about the recent account deactivations.' However, the company also stated it monitors its platform regularly for content that violates its Community Guidelines. In other words, it refused to admit the problem was real. Instead, Pinterest requested users send a DM if they believed their account was deactivated in error, as if the bans were so few and far between that they could be handled as one-offs. Things have now changed with Pinterest's new statement, though many users complain it's 'too little, too late. On May 13, Pinterest posted on X and in Instagram's comments that some users' accounts were deactivated by mistake. The statement read: We're committed to making Pinterest the safest, most positive place on the internet, which means setting a high bar for content safety and continually striving to meet it. We recently took action on violations of our content policies, but an internal error led to over-enforcement and some accounts were mistakenly deactivated. We're sorry for the frustration this reinstated many impacted accounts and are making improvements to respond faster when mistakes happen going forward. Thanks for your patience as we work to make this right for all our users. Pinterest users responded to the statement in anger, listing their numerous complaints. Some users said they appealed their bans over email and received no help. Others believed Pinterest's AI had misidentified their posts. Many users said they had done nothing that should have led to a ban and were never given a clear reason for their account deactivation. TechCrunch reached out to Pinterest for further comment and explanation.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pinterest Jumps Over 5% -- But Can It Sustain the Surge Amid Ad Turmoil?
Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) shares jumped over 5.1% at 1.11pm in after-hours trading after the social media platform posted first-quarter earnings that outpaced revenue expectations but missed slightly on EPS. Revenue hit $855 million, a 16% year-over-year increase, with 570 million monthly active users, up 10% from last year. Yet, ad pricing fell 22%, underscoring ongoing challenges in monetizing international markets. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with PINS. CEO Bill Ready spotlighted Pinterest's transformation into a shopping hub for Gen Z, positioning it as a secular share-taker amid tough market conditions. CFO Julia Brau Donnelly flagged pockets of ad spending pullbacks from Asia-based e-commerce players, impacted by the recent closure of the U.S. de minimis trade loophole. Despite these headwinds, the EBITDA margin came in at 20%, edging past Wall Street's 19.4% estimate. The attached chart underscores Pinterest's volatile earnings trajectory with consistent revenue growth juxtaposed against uneven profitability. Net income spikes, followed by abrupt drops in the past, indicating that those high positive net income were not normal business operation. This could also indicate potential volatility ahead. Can Pinterest turn its expanding user base into a sustainable revenue engine amid shifting ad dynamics? This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Entrepreneur
09-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Pinterest CEO Says AI Helped Revenue Grow By 16%
Pinterest CEO Bill Ready says AI deserves credit for the "healthy" results the social media company reported on Thursday. For the first quarter of the year, ending March 31, Pinterest's global revenue was $855 million, a 16% year-over-year increase, while global monthly active users increased 10% year-over-year to 570 million users. In the U.S. and Canada, revenue grew by 12% to reach $663 million. "Our business, including our top-line revenue growth, remains healthy," Ready stated on an earnings call. Ready said that Pinterest's use of AI to tailor the user experience helped set it apart from competitors. He called Pinterest a "shopping destination" with 85% of its monthly users tapping into the app on mobile, a 10% increase from 2022. Related: 4 Pinterest Hacks You Can Adopt to Drive Traffic to Your Blog "Our ability to leverage AI to personalize our users' experience is a key differentiator and has enabled us to find our best product market fit in years," Ready explained. Pinterest CEO Bill Ready. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Ready stated that AI helped drive "deeper engagement" among users through personalized recommendations that factor in more user signals, like what they click on. AI has enabled Pinterest to generate more revenue and become "a vital partner" for advertisers, Ready said. Pinterest makes money by selling promoted pins or posts to advertisers. It also has a "buy it" button that allows users to purchase products straight from Pinterest instead of a separate site. The company has been using AI in some capacity since 2016. Ready also said on the earnings call that Pinterest is using its AI to better understand users and predict ads that are best suited to them. The company has seen a 4% increase in click-through rates with these AI-recommended ads. Ready added that another one of Pinterest's "core differentiators" is its visual search feature, which resonates with the company's "largest and fastest growing" user base: Gen Z (born from 1997 to 2012). Pinterest is tasked with matching search queries with content from its library of billions of pins, and it is using its AI to help personalize search results. Related: Is ChatGPT Search Better Than Google? I Tried the New Search Engine to Find Out. Pinterest announced earlier this week that it is releasing new AI-powered visual search tools for women's fashion content in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., with plans to expand to more categories. The tools allow users to search for clothes without words, by selecting elements within a picture, like a pair of shoes or a particular color. Pinterest was founded in 2010 and operates like a virtual pinboard that users can curate with images, videos, recipes, and other content. It is one of the largest social media sites in the world, with over 89 million U.S. users.
