Pinterest sinks after weak revenue guidance and Q3 adjusted EPS misses estimates by 10%

Pinterest plunged nearly 18% in premarket trading on Wednesday, after the company reported lower-than-expected earnings and a weak holiday quarter forecast after the bell on Tuesday.

The social media platform posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.38, below Wall Street’s $0.42 estimates, while revenue matched analysts’ expectations at $1.05 billion, up 17% from a year earlier.

The fly in the earnings ointment appears to be the guidance, however, with Pinterest expecting Q4 sales of only $1.31 billion to $1.34 billion, with the midpoint trailing analysts’ $1.34 billion forecast.

Global monthly active users came in at an all-time high of 600 million, beating expectations, but average revenue per user came in at $1.78, slightly shy of projections. During the earnings call, CFO Julia Donnelly said the company saw “pockets of moderating ad spend” in the third quarter as “larger US retailers navigate tariff-related margin pressure.”

The company’s soft results come as its peers, including Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet, recently reported strong digital ad sales.

CEO Bill Ready said Pinterest’s AI push is “paying off,” highlighting last week’s launch of its AI-powered shopping assistant, Pinterest Assistant. Still, growth in its core North American market — which generates roughly three-quarters of its revenue — remains a drag heading into the holiday season.