Pinterest shares are getting crushed in after-hours trading, dropping 15% after the company delivered a disappointing third-quarter earnings report that missed Wall Street expectations and served up weak guidance for the holiday quarter. The selloff wiped out Pinterest's entire 2025 gains, highlighting investor concerns about the visual discovery platform's ability to compete for advertising dollars against tech giants like Meta and Google.
Pinterest just delivered a reality check that sent its stock tumbling 15% in extended trading Tuesday. The visual discovery platform missed earnings expectations and offered guidance that has investors questioning whether it can keep pace in the increasingly competitive digital advertising landscape.
The numbers tell a mixed story. Pinterest posted adjusted earnings of 38 cents per share, falling short of the 42 cents analysts were expecting, according to LSEG data. Revenue hit exactly what Wall Street predicted at $1.05 billion, but that wasn't enough to calm investor nerves.
What really spooked the market was Pinterest's fourth-quarter outlook. The company guided to revenue between $1.31 billion and $1.34 billion, with the midpoint of $1.325 billion trailing Wall Street's $1.34 billion projection. In the high-stakes world of tech earnings, even small misses can trigger major selloffs.
The timing couldn't be worse for Pinterest. Just last week, the advertising giants that dominate digital marketing delivered blockbuster results that highlighted the growing gap between the leaders and everyone else. Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $51.24 billion, up 26% year-over-year, representing its strongest growth since Q1 2024. Amazon's advertising unit posted 24% growth to $17.7 billion, while Google parent Alphabet saw ad sales climb nearly 13% to $74.18 billion.
"Our investments in AI and product innovation are paying off," Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said in a statement, trying to put a positive spin on the results. "We've become a leader in visual search and have effectively turned our platform into an AI-powered shopping assistant for 600 million consumers."
