According to CNBC, Pinterest shares tanked as much as 15% on Tuesday after the company reported third-quarter financial results that missed earnings expectations. The company’s Q3 sales grew 17% year-over-year while net income jumped 201% to $92.11 million, but the real problem was their weak Q4 revenue guidance of $1.31-$1.34 billion, which fell short of Wall Street’s $1.34 billion projection. Pinterest did beat user estimates with 600 million monthly active users, up from 578 million last quarter, but their U.S. and Canada sales of $786 million missed expectations of $799 million. CEO Bill Ready claimed their AI investments are “paying off,” but investors clearly aren’t convinced given the stock’s immediate plunge.
Sponsored content — provided for informational and promotional purposes.
The AI Shopping Bet
Here’s the thing about Pinterest’s strategy: they’re trying to position themselves as an AI-powered shopping assistant, but the numbers suggest it’s not working as well as they’d hoped. While they’re growing users globally, their average revenue per user actually missed expectations at $1.78 versus the projected $1.79. That’s a worrying sign when you’re trying to convince investors that your AI transformation is creating real economic value.
And look at the timing. This earnings miss comes right after Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon all reported strong digital advertising results. Meta’s revenue soared 26%, Amazon’s ad unit grew 24%, and even Reddit saw sales balloon 68%. So why is Pinterest struggling when everyone else in digital ads is crushing it? Basically, Pinterest is stuck between being a social platform and a commerce platform, and they’re not executing well enough on either front.
Investor Patience Wearing Thin
The 15% stock drop tells you everything you need to know about how Wall Street feels about Ready’s vision. They’ve been hearing about the AI shopping assistant angle for a while now, but the financial results just aren’t backing up the hype. When your guidance comes in below expectations in a quarter where your competitors are absolutely killing it, investors get nervous.
I think what we’re seeing is a classic case of “show me, don’t tell me.” Pinterest can talk about their 600 million users and AI innovations all day long, but if they can’t translate that into beating revenue expectations in their most important markets, the market’s going to punish them. And that’s exactly what happened here. The question now is whether this is just a temporary stumble or a sign that their entire business model needs rethinking.
