Pinterest's forecast disappoints investors seeking holiday season ad boost

(Reuters) -Pinterest's fourth-quarter revenue forecast failed to impress investors looking for a boost from the holiday shopping season, as bigger online ad sellers largely outperformed, sending its shares down 12% in extended trading on Thursday.

The company also announced a new stock buyback program of up to $2 billion and canceled the September 2023 program under which $500 million were available for repurchase.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS )'s results follow quarterly reports by digital ad bellwethers – including Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL ), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META ), Reddit and Snap – which posted upbeat third quarter revenue, helped by robust ad spending.

Pinterest released Performance+ suite in October to better target users by enhancing ad campaigns with new AI tools and automation features on the platform.

"Performance+ is still in the early rollout phase, with many advertisers limiting budget shifts and adoption of new features during holiday peak period," CFO Julia Donnelly said on a post-earnings call.

The company is also seeing "softness" among food and beverage advertisers, Donnelly said.

Pinterest forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $1.13 billion and $1.15 billion, the midpoint of which was in line with analysts' average estimates of $1.14 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company's revenue grew 18% to $898.4 million in the reported quarter, compared with estimates of $896.4 million.



Adjusted profit per share for the quarter came in at 40 cents, compared with estimates of 34 cents.

Global monthly active users on the platform rose 11% to 537 million in the July-to-September period, compared with estimates of 531.5 million.

Source: Investing.com