Pinterest is using AI to pump up sales, sending its stock soaring

The most valuable companies on earth are struggling to assure investors that artificial intelligence will actually bolster their bottom line. Pinterest is already there.

Juiced by AI, Pinterest reported bringing in $1.15 billion in sales in the last three months of 2024, slightly above the $1.14 billion analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. The company also said it expects to bring in between $837 million and $852 million in revenue in the first three months of this year, compared to the $836 million analysts expected.

The upbeat earnings report sent Pinterest shares up more than 17% on Friday. It’s been a tumultuous year for Pinterest’s stock, which is still down about 3% from a year ago.

Pinterest is a social media platform where users can create collections of images, or a “vision board,” often used to plan events. Say a bride-to-be is using Pinterest to show a wedding planner her vision for her barnyard shindig. Her search will load a mix of stock images and images with links to retailers who sell that style of decor.

The company has increasingly used AI to present users ads they’re likely to click on. “More context on users and more powerful machine learning models mean a deeper understanding of the content they might enjoy,” Pinterest CEO William J. Ready told analysts on Thursday.

Pinterest has been able to use what it knows about its users to get more revenue out of each of them. In the US and Canada, Pinterest made more than $29.20 per user in 2024. In Europe, where companies are required ask for explicit consent before using personal data for advertising purposes, Pinterest made $4.20 per user in 2024.

“Given Pinterest’s visual discovery and intent-driven nature, we believe the platform is well positioned to leverage AI and will only benefit from model improvements going forward (AWS is cloud partner),” analysts at Bank of America wrote in a Friday research note.