Pinterest’s Quarterly Revenue, User Growth Top Projections

(Bloomberg) -- Pinterest Inc. posted revenue and user growth that beat analysts’ estimates for the fourth quarter, citing new advertisers and greater engagement in the holiday season. Shares gained about 12% in extended trading.

Sales at the digital search and scrapbooking company rose 46% to about $400 million, better than the $371 million consensus analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue for the full year was $1.14 billion, the first time Pinterest has surpassed the $1 billion threshold, and slightly higher than the revenue range it provided in May.

Pinterest said it added about 13 million new monthly users in the period, bringing its total global user base to 335 million. Analysts expected Pinterest to report around 330 million users at the end of 2019.

The company projected 2020 revenue of $1.52 billion for the year, just ahead of analysts’ estimates.

Pinterest is the latest digital advertising company to report strong fourth-quarter sales. Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google all reported revenue that was better-than-anticipated in the past two weeks.

The San Francisco-based company included a list of business priorities for the year in its earnings release, including diversifying its ad offerings and pushing further into shopping. As part of its shopping expansion, Pinterest said it plans to create a “Verified Merchants Program” in 2020, which will require brands to meet certain guidelines in order to join. The point is to improve trust between Pinterest users and the brands they buy from on the service, the company says.

Pinterest stock reached a high of $26.30 in extended trading after closing at $23.01. The shares have gained 21% in the past 12 months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at kwagner71@bloomberg.net

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

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