Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE: PINS) today announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2021.
Shares of Snap and Pinterest and pretty much all social media stocks were falling sharply Thursday after Meta Platforms. The parent of Facebook reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and issued a first-quarter revenue outlook that was well below expectations.
Pinterest said that first quarter revenue would grow “in the high teens” annually. In line with analyst expectations of a 18% year-over-year increase.
Financial Highlights
Revenue in the three months ended in December rose 20%, year over year, to $847 million, yielding a net profit of 49 cents a share.
Pinterest said that its global monthly active users, a key metric for measuring the health of a social network, declined 6% year-over-year to 431 million. During the quarter, monthly active users declined 12% in the United States to 86 million.
GAAP net income was $175 million for Q4, including $49 million. One-time share-based compensation charge related to our co-founder’s transition and a $25 million noncash charitable contribution. Adjusted EBITDA was $351 million for Q4.
For the full year, Pinterest reported a net income of $316.4 million, or 46 cents a share, its first GAAP profit. It had a revenue of $2.58 billion. Adjusted earnings were $1.13 a share, beating analysts expectation of $1.10 a share on revenue of $2.56 billion.
CEO and co-founder Ben Silbermann remarked that the company “took important steps in 2021 with the launch of our foundational technology to deliver a video-first publishing platform.”
Added Silbermann, “I’m proud to say that for the first time, we surpassed $2 billion in revenue for the year. That growing 52% over the previous year — and reached our first full year of GAAP profitability.”
Added Silbermann, “As we look ahead to 2022, we plan to further invest in our business as we scale the distribution of Idea Pins through our creator-led content efforts. We enhance our core Pinner experience and shopping to make Pinterest the destination for inspiration and action on the internet.”
Before the report, the Pinterest stock had dropped 10% on Thursday, after competitor Meta reported an outlook worse than expectations on Wednesday. It came up short on user numbers, prompting investors to sell off social media stocks.
But Pinterest’s share price recovered all the losses and added gains after the market closed on Thursday on its earnings report and a bullish report from competitor Snap.
Social media stocks, which derive almost all their revenue from advertising, have been under pressure ever since Apple (AAPL), in late April. It made changes to its smartphone operating system. Apple initiated privacy controls that made it harder to track consumer behavior and disrupted targeted advertising.
