Wall Street analysts were mixed on Pinterest after its latest earnings results, saying the near-term outlook looks murky, though an Amazon partnership seems promising. Pinterest slid 13% in premarket trading Friday. While the image sharing company beat expectations on the top and bottom lines in its first quarter, it issued second-quarter revenue growth expectations that were disappointing. Still, there were bright spots in the report. Along with its results Thursday, Pinterest said Amazon will be its first partner for third party ads. According to analysts, the launch will be a “meaningful unlock” for Pinterest demand and monetization. The stock is up 12% this year. PINS 1D mountain Pinterest shares 1-day JPMorgan’s Doug Anmuth reiterated a neutral rating on Pinterest, saying Friday that a “choppy” outlook detracts from first-quarter results that appeared “decent at first glance.” With its new CEO Bill Ready, Pinterest will have to prove itself in an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop. However, he found the Amazon deal encouraging, saying: “While there won’t be any impact to financials until 2024, we were encouraged by the deal and believe it will serve as a meaningful unlock for demand & monetization.” Anmuth’s $26 price target, trimmed slightly from $27, is a little lower than where shares closed Thursday, at $27.27. Bank of America’s Justin Post reiterated a neutral rating, calling Pinterest a “near-term disappointment, long-term opportunity.” He lowered his price objective to $29 from $30. “We see Pinterest as a high-quality platform and remain constructive on improving usage trends with high intent users,” Post wrote Thursday. “However, Street may have to reset its optimism on a 3rd party ad deal, and outlook suggests a still soft home-goods category and that smaller platforms could be losing some ground in a difficult macro environment.” Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs’ Eric Sheridan maintained a buy rating, saying the engagement trends are pointing in the right direction. His 12-month price target of $29, trimmed from $30, still only represents about 6% upside from Thursday’s close. “Pinterest’s (PINS) Q1 ’23 earnings report was mixed as revenue headwinds persisted for a 2nd consecutive quarter ( & reflected in forward quarterly revenue guidance) as long-term mgmt initiatives for platform transitions remain on track to be a greater incremental contribution in future periods (which would only be amplified by a more stable/improved macro environment),” Sheridan wrote Friday. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
