Wedbush Reaffirms "Neutral" Rating for Pinterest (NYSE:PINS)

Key Points

• Wedbush reaffirmed its “neutral” rating on Pinterest with a $24 price target, implying approximately 3.1% downside from the stock’s $24.77 opening price. The broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with a $28.82 target.
• Pinterest reported stronger-than-expected results, with adjusted earnings of $0.43 per share versus $0.36 expected and revenue of $1.18 billion, up 18.2% year over year. Monthly active users increased 11% to a record 640 million.
• Despite the earnings and user-growth beats, investors remain concerned about slower third-quarter revenue growth, increased advertising competition from platforms such as Instagram, and a reported $47 million GAAP net loss.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 3.11% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PINS. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $23.00 price objective on Pinterest and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Pinterest in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Pinterest from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Pinterest from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pinterest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.82.

Pinterest Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PINS opened at $24.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.23, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $21.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.50. Pinterest has a 52-week low of $13.84 and a 52-week high of $39.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.90.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Pinterest had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 7.64%.The business's revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pinterest will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Benjamin Silbermann sold 46,875 shares of Pinterest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.54, for a total transaction of $1,056,562.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Wanjiku Juanita Walcott sold 27,337 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.46, for a total transaction of $559,315.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 724,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,826,809.58. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 370,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,892,627 in the last quarter. 8.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pinterest

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pinterest in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Pinterest by 2,017.3% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pinterest by 727.3% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,365 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Pinterest during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in Pinterest during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 88.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Pinterest

Here are the key news stories impacting Pinterest this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pinterest beat expectations with adjusted earnings of $0.43 per share versus the $0.36 consensus and revenue of $1.18 billion, up 18.2% year over year. Monthly active users rose 11% to a record 640 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached $311 million. Pinterest Second Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised their price targets following the report. Morgan Stanley and Mizuho moved to $32, UBS raised its target to $33, and Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its overweight rating with a $30 target. Guggenheim also upgraded its target to $26 with a buy rating.
• Neutral Sentiment: Other firms remained cautious: Evercore raised its target to $29 but kept an in-line rating, while Baird and Rosenblatt maintained neutral ratings. RBC raised its target to $25 but retained a sector-perform rating. Analyst Price Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of approximately $1.2 billion was viewed as lukewarm and implied slower growth. Investors are concerned that larger platforms such as Meta’s Instagram are increasing advertising competition. The outlook overshadowed the earnings and user-growth beats, while higher costs contributed to a reported $47 million GAAP net loss. Pinterest Faces Slower Growth and Ad Competition

About Pinterest

Pinterest, Inc operates a visual discovery platform that helps users find inspiration and ideas for projects ranging from home design and fashion to cooking and travel. Users create and curate "Pins" — images or videos linked to content — organized on thematic boards. The service is available through its website and mobile applications and emphasizes personalized recommendations and visual search to surface relevant content based on user interests.

The company's primary revenue model is advertising, offering promoted content formats that integrate into user feeds and search results.

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