By Jaspreet Singh
(Reuters) -Pinterest forecast second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, expecting a boost from its ad partnerships with Amazon and Google, sending shares up more than 16% in aftermarket trading.
The company has benefited from marketers turning to the platform to reach Gen Z users - more than 40% of its user base - and leverage its new AI-driven ad tools and latest ad formats, which offer better user engagement.
In early February, Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) announced a third-party ad deal with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s Google, allowing the company to serve ads via Google's ad manager, having struck a deal with Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last year.
"Q1 was a milestone quarter for Pinterest as we reached new highs.... our fastest user and revenue growth since 2021," CEO Bill Ready said in a statement.
Pinterest saw an "emerging contribution" in the first quarter from third-party partnerships, which are ramping and complementing "the really strong growth" in the first-party ad demand, Ready added on a post-earnings call.
The company expects second-quarter revenue to be between $835 million and $850 million, compared with analysts' average estimate of $826.5 million, according to LSEG data.
In the first quarter, global monthly active users rose 12% to 518 million, compared with estimates of about 503.2 million users.
Revenue for the first quarter rose 23% from a year earlier to $740 million, beating estimates of $699.9 million. Adjusted profit per share came in at 20 cents, also beating estimates of 13 cents.
"As Pinterest continues to sharpen their ad tools and refine their targeting algorithms, expect the platform to become a central hub for performance marketing, offering unrivaled opportunities for brands," Jeremy Goldman, senior director of briefings at Emarketer said.
A majority of Pinterest's first quarter ad spend in the U.S. came from the shopping category at 50%, followed by 20% from consumer packaged goods (CPG), market intelligence firm Sensor Tower told Reuters on Monday.
The top three advertisers in the U.S. for Pinterest in the quarter were Amazon, Target, and PDD Holdings' Temu, Sensor Tower added.