Pinterest soars with Elliott, despite lackluster accounts

(Boursier.com) — pinterest jumped nearly 20% before trading on Wall Street on Tuesday, despite results below market expectations, while Elliott has just confirmed a stake in the capital. However, the group missed the profit consensus for the quarter and delivered disappointing revenue forecasts. The number of users of the social network, meanwhile, has not changed compared to the previous quarter, while analysts feared a decline. Last night, the group therefore unveiled a second quarter loss of 43 million dollars and 7 cents per title, for revenues of 666 million dollars compared to 613 million last year. The leader in online scrapbooking generated an adjusted EPS of 11 cents, against 25 cents a year before and 18 cents consensus. Revenues were expected at 665 million.

Recall that the co-founder of the group Ben Silbermann has left his position as general manager, replaced by Bill Ready, a former Alphabet and PayPal. Ready last night highlighted revenue growth of 9% year-over-year and 10% growth at constant currency, despite the uncertainty facing advertisers. The hope of recovery is also maintained by the capital increase of the activist investor Elliott Management Corp. According to the Wall Street Journal, Elliott told the company a few weeks ago that he had become its largest shareholder. Yesterday, the investor confirmed his participation, describing a “highly strategic” activity of Pinterest, with significant potential for growth. Ready, for its part, reported a constructive dialogue with its shareholder.

For its third quarter, the group expects growth of around 5% year-on-year, while analysts were targeting 710 million dollars in revenue, or 12% growth.