(Reuters) – Pinterest Inc posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth in nearly two years and turned a loss, the latest social media platform to fall victim to a slowdown in advertising spending by companies worried about a gloomy economic outlook.
Decades-high inflation is forcing companies to make cuts to their marketing budgets this year, driving online player such as Alphabet Inc, Meta Platforms Inc and Snap Inc to intensely compete for shrinking ad dollars.
Pinterest’s third-quarter revenue grew 8% to $684.6 million, mirroring a slowdown seen at its bigger rivals. The figure was, however, higher than the $666.71 million expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
The return of outdoor activities has also meant that fewer people are engaging with the image-sharing platform for inspiration to take up activities such as home renovation and recipe-based cooking. Pinterest’s global monthly active users (MAUs) were flat at 445 million, but they came in above Factset estimates of 437.4 million.
The company posted a net loss of $65.2 million, or $0.10 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $94 million, or $0.14 per share, a year earlier.
Pinterest’s global average revenue per user rose 11% to $1.56. Pinterest said it was expecting revenue growth in mid-single-digit percentage in the current quarter, due to slightly greater foreign exchange headwinds than in the third quarter.
(Reporting by Vansh Agarwal and Shreyaa Narayanan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
