Pinterest 2017 Sales Said to Rise 58 Percent to $473 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Pinterest Inc. sales jumped 58 percent to $473 million last year after marketers spent more on its digital ads, people familiar with the matter said.

The online image search company missed internal revenue goals for the first half of 2017, but exceeded expectations in the second half, one of the people said. It’s on track to meet or beat targets for the first half of this year, the person added. The people asked not to be identified discussing private company details.

“Pinterest is in a stronger financial position than ever before,” a representative for the San Francisco-based company said, declining to comment on the numbers. “We are taking a disciplined approach in building our business and are very pleased with the company’s prospects for long-term growth.”

People visit Pinterest to post and search for photos of things they’re planning to buy or do. The company has been developing its business model ahead of an eventual initial public offering. It sells photo and video ads that show up in searches, and also touts items for purchase that may align with a users’ style. If the company can accurately predict growth, that will help attract public-market investors.

Pinterest raised $150 million in private funding last year at the same share price it had in 2015 -- for a total valuation of about $12.3 billion. The company has almost 250 million monthly active users, according to the people.

Revenue has surged over the past four years, the people familiar said.

• $24 million in 2014
• $139 million in 2015
• $298.9 million in 2016
• $472.9 million in 2017

Prospective IPO investors would likely compare the company with Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc., two public companies that compete in mobile advertising with the dominance of Facebook Inc. and Google. Twitter has more users than Pinterest and generated $2.4 billion in sales last year. It’s valued at $25 billion. Snap, which took in revenue of $825 million last year, has a market value of $13 billion.

--With assistance from Ian King and Eric Newcomer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Andrew Pollack

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