Shares of picture sharing site Pinterest jumped by almost third in late trading after the company this afternoon reported[1] third-quarter revenue and profit that easily surpassed Wall Street's expectations, and forecast this quarter's results much higher as well.
The company confirmed it is seeing a brand advertising resurgence that helped Snap in a big way last quarter[2].
CFO Scott Morgenfeld, in prepared remarks, told analysts on tonight's conference call that, "We've seen a major impact just around brands, CPG [consumer packaged goods] advertisers and brand advertisers returning to the platform after a pause in Q2 and the return of retail, especially the larger omni-channel retailers that had paused in Q2."
Revenue in the three months ended in September rose 58%, year over year, to $442.6 million, yielding EPS of 13 cents. That was better than the average estimate of sell-side analysts of $386 million and 3 cents per share.
For the current quarter, the company sees revenue rising another 60%, year over year, for $638 million, which would be well ahead of consensus for $552 million.
Analysts had speculated in the wake of Snap's results[3] that both Snap and Pinterest are benefitting from a revival in brand advertising after a deep pause during the pandemic.
On the call tonight, Morgenfeld said the company had seen some benefit among brands that moved away from social media, an allusion to the boycotts of Facebook by advertisers during the quarter. Morgenfeld said it was unclear whether benefits from that would continue this quarter.
The second unknown is the tailwind we've experienced from the advertiser boycott of social media that began in July. Along the end, this group of advertisers accelerated their spend on Pinterest in Q3. On the other hand, the attractiveness of a