Pinterest shares slip on fourth-quarter revenue miss and weak forecast

Shares of Pinterest fell in extended trading on Monday after the company reported revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations and issued a soft first-quarter forecast. Shares pared losses after earlier falling as much as 12%.

Here’s how the company did.

• income: $877 million vs. $886.3 million expected, according to Refinitiv.
• Earnings: 29 cents per share versus expectations of 27 cents, according to Refinitiv.

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Pinterest said it expects first-quarter sales to increase in the “low single digits” from a year earlier. Analysts had expected a 6.9% rise to $614.8 million.

The company said its chief financial officer and head of business operations, Todd Morgenfeld, will leave the company on July 1, 2023.

Pinterest’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 4% year-over-year to $877 million, while total sales for 2022 jumped 9% year-over-year to $2.8 billion.

Pinterest reported net income of $17 million in the fourth quarter, but posted a net loss of $96 million for the full year.

The company said its global monthly active users rose 4% year over year to 450 million. Average revenue per user, or ARPU, for the US and Canada region rose 6% in the fourth quarter to $7.60.

“While the industry as a whole faces challenges, we are adapting quickly to the changing macro environment and are committed to creating a more positive online experience for our users and advertisers,” Pinterest CEO Bill Reddy said in a statement.

The company also said its chief marketing and communications officer Andrea Mallard and its chief revenue officer Bill Watkins will now report directly to Ready.

Pinterest’s fourth-quarter earnings came after many ad-supported companies reported weak results.

Meta said last week that its fourth-quarter sales fell 4% year-over-year to $32.2 billion, while Alphabet’s Google advertising business posted fourth-quarter revenue of $59 billion, down from 3. 6% compared to the same quarter last year. Also, revenue at Alphabet’s YouTube division fell 8% year over year to $7.96 billion in the fourth quarter.

Snap said fourth-quarter sales rose slightly from a year earlier to $1.3 billion, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion.

Amazon’s digital advertising division was a bright spot in the fourth quarter, with sales at that unit jumping 19% to $11.6 billion.

Pinterest reportedly laid off about 150 employees last week, joining a growing list of tech companies like Meta, Alphabet and Salesforce that have laid off workers in recent months.

In August, Elliott Management confirmed it was Pinterest’s largest investor and expressed support for Ready, who previously ran Google’s commerce business. Ready joined Pinterest in June 2022, replacing longtime CEO and co-founder Ben Silberman.

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