Pinterest shares tumble nearly 15% on weak guidance

Pinterest shares sank about 15% when the company reported its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday and provided third-quarter guidance that was lower than analyst estimates.

Here’s how the company performed, according to LSEG:

• Revenue: $854 million vs. $848 million expected
• Earnings per share: 29 cents adjusted vs. 28 cents expected

Revenue jumped 21% year over year, while quarterly net income was $9 million, or 1 cent per share, compared to a net loss of $35 million, or 5 cents per share, in the year-earlier period when total costs and expenses were $781 million.

Pinterest said that it expects its third-quarter sales to range from $885 million to $900 million, which equates to about 16% to 18% growth year over year.

Analysts were projecting revenue guidance of about $907 million.

“Our monetization efforts are paying off,” Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said in a statement. “Advertisers are seeing improved performance across key objectives on Pinterest — from brand awareness to conversion — as we continue to roll out AI powered products and experiences. As a result, we’re gaining share of advertising budgets with some of the world’s largest brands.”

Pinterest said that it had 522 million global monthly active users (MAU) for the second quarter, topping analyst estimates of 520.1 million. Regarding the regional breakdown of Pinterest’s global MAU, the company said that the U.S./Canada had 98 million, Europe had 136 million and the rest of the world totaled 288 million. Analysts were expecting Pinterest to report 98.4 million for U.S./Canada, 136.8 million for Europe and 284.6 million for the rest of the world.

Additionally, Pinterest reported second-quarter global average revenue per user (ARPU) of $1.64, in line with analyst estimates. As for the regional breakdown of Pinterest’s global ARPU, the company said it was $6.85 for the U.S./Canada, $1.03 for Europe and 13 cents for the rest of the world, compared to analyst expectations of $6.88, $1.01 and 13 cents, respectfully.

In a call with analysts, Pinterest chief financial officer Julia Brau Donnelly said that the technology, autos and financial services sectors were “sources of strength” for the the company, regarding its online advertising business. The growth with those sectors, however, “was partially offset by softness within specifically food and beverage advertisers, who are navigating broader headwinds within that category,” Donnelly said.

Regarding the broader market, Ready told analysts on the call that “we’re seeing an ad market that we think is relatively stable versus last quarter.”

Last week, Alphabet reported second-quarter revenue of $84.74 billion, which topped analyst estimates. However, the company’s YouTube advertising sales were $8.66 billion during that period, coming in lower than analyst estimates of $8.93 billion.

Meta will report its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday while Snap is slated to report its latest quarterly financials on Thursday.