Earning Preview: Pinterest, Inc. this quarter’s revenue is expected to increase by 17.82%, and institutional views are positive

Earnings Agent
Jul 29

Abstract

Pinterest, Inc. will report fiscal second-quarter results on August 4, 2026 Post Market, with investor attention centered on whether revenue growth near the high teens and improving monetization can translate into steadier profitability and clearer operating leverage.

Market Forecast

Consensus currently points to revenue of 1.15 billion US dollars for the quarter, up 17.82% year over year, and adjusted EPS around 0.36, up 1.39% year over year. Management’s prior outlook implied revenue between 1.13 billion and 1.15 billion US dollars for this quarter; there was no formal margin or EPS guidance, and no gross margin forecast has been communicated.

The core revenue engine remains the advertising business, which is projected to continue expanding on rising ad demand and better conversion. Last quarter, advertising revenue effectively equaled total revenue at 1.01 billion US dollars, up 17.84% year over year, and it remains the segment with the highest near-term growth visibility.

Last Quarter Review

Last quarter, Pinterest, Inc. delivered revenue of 1.01 billion US dollars, a gross profit margin of 76.32%, GAAP net loss attributable to the parent of 73.59 million US dollars, a net profit margin of -7.30%, and adjusted EPS of 0.27, up 17.39% year over year.

A notable operating highlight was user scale and engagement: global monthly active users reached 631 million, demonstrating healthy platform breadth and improving advertiser relevance as more first-party signals and on-platform actions are captured. The main business remained advertising—effectively the entire revenue base—at 1.01 billion US dollars, up 17.84% year over year, supported by stronger ad demand across formats and improving ad relevance.

Current Quarter Outlook

Main advertising engine

The revenue line this quarter is most likely to be driven by the continued strength of Pinterest, Inc.’s advertising platform. The company exited the prior quarter with high-teens revenue growth and a 76.32% gross margin profile, setting a constructive baseline for incremental monetization against a larger user base. With consensus sitting at 1.15 billion US dollars for the quarter, the setup implies that demand from retail, CPG, and other visually oriented advertiser categories remains supportive and that the platform is converting intent-oriented user sessions into measurable performance outcomes.

Executional focus remains on increasing the density and quality of first-party signals to improve ad targeting and to safeguard performance amid broader signal deprecation. Product work that deepens the connection between inspiration and action—improving click-through, save-to-shop, and downstream conversion—feeds the auction with higher-intent traffic that monetizes more effectively. This should help stabilize the take-rate and support revenue per user progression, particularly in regions where monetization is earlier in the curve.

In practical terms, the near-term watch items are cost-per-click and conversion-rate trends, which, alongside mix between upper-funnel inspiration ads and lower-funnel shopping/retail formats, will influence revenue yield. Advertisers’ appetite for seasonal and midyear promotions can add incremental budget, and the company’s ability to showcase closed-loop outcomes will shape budget allocations into the September quarter. While GAAP profitability was negative last quarter, the combination of strong gross margin and improving operating discipline suggests room for operating leverage as revenue scales.

Commerce and shopping ecosystem

The most promising vector for incremental growth remains shopping-related formats and features, where the platform’s “from inspiration to action” flow is most distinct. The company has been enhancing catalog ingestion, shoppable surfaces, and merchant tooling to compress steps from discovery to purchase. As those services scale, the potential exists to lift both ad load in shopping contexts and the relative value of those placements, because commercially oriented sessions often deliver superior return on ad spend for merchants.

In this quarter, expect management commentary to emphasize progress on making more pins shoppable, expanding product-level metadata, and improving feed and search placement quality for items with strong price and availability signals. These initiatives can raise the share of monetizable shopping sessions and increase the inventory of product-oriented ad opportunities. Growth should be most visible where merchant adoption of catalogs and on-platform checkout indicators are strongest, and where users are most engaged with product curation and seasonal buying lists.

A practical indicator to follow is the cadence of product-search and shopping-intent sessions, as these often correlate with stronger monetization per impression. While the company does not break out shopping revenue as a separate line, the shopping ecosystem sits atop the broader ad engine and can change the mix toward higher-value formats. If shopping initiatives continue to increase the proportion of high-intent traffic, the resulting monetization uplift can be meaningful without materially increasing user ad load.

Key stock drivers this quarter

Three factors are likely to drive the stock’s reaction to this print. The first is the revenue trajectory: consensus expects 1.15 billion US dollars, up 17.82% year over year, and investors will look for signs that growth can remain in the mid-to-high teens into the back half. The second is profitability cadence: last quarter’s gross margin of 76.32% provides adequate headroom for operating leverage, but GAAP net margin was -7.30%; investors will look for evidence that spending discipline and efficiencies can narrow losses and support positive EPS durability on an adjusted basis.

The third is execution on AI-enhanced relevance and infrastructure scalability. The company announced an expanded multi-year cloud commitment to support AI workloads and search/shopping experiences, pointing to larger-scale model training, more responsive inference, and more flexible accelerated compute. The investment case depends on whether these capabilities translate into better ad matching, higher conversion, and more consistent return on ad spend across categories and regions. If the quarter highlights measurable advances in signal quality and monetization efficiency, it can reinforce the narrative that operating leverage and durable growth can co-exist, even as the company funds platform improvements.

Analyst Opinions

Bullish perspectives dominate the recent institutional commentary set, with multiple well-followed firms expressing positive stances and no explicit bearish calls in the period reviewed. Notably, Mizuho raised its price target to 31.00 US dollars while maintaining a favorable view on the equity, citing constructive fundamental momentum and supportive execution. Additional supportive voices included Bernstein (Buy), Wells Fargo (Buy), and Cantor Fitzgerald (Buy), each emphasizing improving monetization mechanics and a favorable setup as user scale expands and signal quality improves.

The bullish argument hinges on three pillars. First, the company’s high-intent user sessions and visually led discovery differentiate its ad inventory in ways that can translate into consistent budget allocation from retail and brand advertisers, particularly when shopping catalog depth and product metadata are robust. Second, the operating model exhibits a structurally high gross margin—76.32% last quarter—which provides a cushion to convert incremental revenue into operating income once opex growth normalizes. In this context, adjusted EPS of 0.27 last quarter, up 17.39% year over year, is viewed by bullish analysts as a sign that profitability can scale with revenue, even if GAAP margins remain under pressure in the near term.

Third, the platform’s AI roadmap and expanded cloud commitment are perceived as accelerants to ad relevance and shopping conversion. Bullish analysts expect these capabilities to compound improvements in ad targeting, reduce latency between inspiration and purchase, and enable better surfacing of in-stock, price-competitive items, which should support return on ad spend and deepen advertiser loyalty. As these product and infrastructure investments mature, the view is that Pinterest, Inc. can capture a larger share of retail and commerce-oriented ad budgets while sustaining user experience quality, driving steady revenue per user progression across both mature and emerging geographies.

On the numbers, the majority of favorable previews anticipate revenue of about 1.15 billion US dollars this quarter, up 17.82% year over year, broadly aligned with management’s prior qualitative commentary and the earlier revenue range. While the company has not guided margins, bullish analysts expect the gross margin profile to stay resilient and view operating expense trends as manageable, creating room for improved operating leverage in the second half if revenue growth sustains near the high teens. The absence of explicit bearish calls in the recent period further concentrates attention on execution details—conversion improvements, advertiser retention, and traction in shopping formats—as the key catalysts for estimate revisions and multiple re-rating potential.

Market participants aligned with the bullish camp also highlight the user base scaling to 631 million monthly active users and the strengthening of first-party signals as meaningful underpinnings of sustainable monetization. The combination of strong user breadth, improving ad systems, and a clearer commerce pathway underpins the case for continued double-digit revenue growth. For this quarter specifically, the bull thesis will be validated if management reports continued progress on shopping catalog coverage, measurable improvements in ad relevance, and healthy advertiser renewal rates, together with a revenue print at or above the guided range midpoint and consensus.

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

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