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Pinterest (PINS) shares jumped early Friday as the image-sharing platform company forecast double-digit first-quarter revenue growth and posted better-than-expected sales for the prior three-month period.
The company anticipates revenue to come in between $837 million and $852 million in the ongoing quarter, representing annual growth of 13% to 15%, it said in a late Thursday statement. The current consensus on FactSet is for sales of $846.8 million. The stock spiked 22% in premarket activity.
"We feel good about sustainability of the revenue growth that we've been driving," Chief Executive Bill Ready said during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. "So, as a result, we're doubling down on our strategy, and we see multiple initiatives with strong balanced execution to drive our growth in 2025 and beyond."
For the December quarter, Pinterest's revenue climbed to $1.15 billion from $981.3 million a year ago, just ahead of the Street's view for $1.14 billion. Adjusted earnings inclined to $0.56 from $0.53 but trailed the average analyst estimate of $0.64.
"In (the fourth quarter), we achieved our first $1 billion revenue quarter as we grew revenue 18% and drove a record number of clicks during the critical holiday season," Ready said on the call. "As we look forward to 2025, we intend to double down on the multi-year initiatives that underpin our strategy."
Revenue in the US and Canada grew 16% year over year to $900 million driven by retail and emerging categories, including technology and financial services, Chief Financial Officer Julia Donnelly told analysts. Revenue from Europe climbed 21% to $196 million driven by retail, while the rest of the world logged a 44% jump in revenue.
The platform's monthly active users rose 11% year over year to 553 million amid gains across all geographic regions. Average revenue per user improved 6% from the prior-year quarter. Ad impressions advanced 43% while ad pricing dropped 18%, according to Donnelly.
Pinterest's efforts to begin serving ads and monetize international markets have been "accretive to net revenue," Donnelly said. However, the scaling of these initiatives has "naturally led to an increase in ad impressions growth and downward pressure on overall global platform pricing," the CFO added.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $470.9 million versus $369.3 million in the 2023 quarter. For the ongoing period, adjusted EBITDA is pegged at $155 million to $170 million.
"Last year, we made significant progress in margin expansion towards our long-term goals, growing 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin by 510 basis points year-over-year," Donnelly said. The company expects the rate of margin expansion in 2025 to be lower than last year, according to Donnelly.