Pinterest’s strategy to turn the inspiration platform into a shopping destination is paying dividends.
The social media company booked 16 per cent growth in revenue to US$855 million in the first quarter of 2025.
This includes an EBITDA of $171.6 million and an earnings margin of 20 per cent, up from 17 per cent in Q1 2024.
Monthly active users increase by 10 per cent to 570 million, including 14 per cent growth outside of North America and Europe. Average revenue per user was $1.52 globally and $6.54 in the U.S. and Canada.
Pinterest results helped its share price increase by more than 11 per cent in after-hours trading.
In an interview with CNBC, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said that the platform has become an important discovery platform for “considered shoppers” and that it is using AI technology to help advertisers reach users at the right time.
“We are at an all time high on users, and engagement per user. At the core of that is that we’ve made Pinterest a shopping destination. Pinterest is where Gen Z goes to shop now,” Ready said.
“That’s delivering great results for our advertisers. As you see some shits in shopping behaviour, we are where users go to figure out what they are shopping for and where they want to go.
“On the advertising side, we have more than doubled the relevancy of our ads over the last two years. That means we are making our ads great content for users and helping advertisers meet users at moments where the ads are actually helpful to the users.”
Ready said that there has been “some adjustment” for Chinese cross-border sellers since Donald Trump imposed huge tariffs on Chinese products, but the impact has been minimal.
Pinterest is using AI technology to help sharpen advertising on the platform by making ads more relevant and matching them with user interests.
“Our tastecraft has grown over 75 per cent over the last two years,” Ready added. “Our new multi-modal visual search model outperforms by 30 per cent off the shelf models.”
Pinterest’s positive results follow a solid quarter from rivals Meta and Google.
Pinterest is the presenting partner for the Cairns Crocodiles next week.
