Pinterest Inc. missed expectations for earnings and guided for revenue lower than analysts expected in the current quarter, but shares still spiked in after-hours trading as users stuck around in a quarter that led to sudden change and attracted an activist investor. Pinterest
PINS,
+2.62%
on Monday reported a second-quarter loss of $43.1 million, or 7 cents a share, on sales of $665.9 million, up from $613 million a year ago. After adjusting for stock-based compensation and other effects, the online scrapbooking site reported earnings of 11 cents a share, down from 25 cents a share a year ago. Global active users declined 5% to 433 million year-over-year but were flat from the previous quarter, beating expectations for a sequential decline.
Analysts on average expected adjusted earnings of 18 cents a share on sales of $665 million, according to FactSet. Pinterest shares jumped more than 20% in after-hours trading following the release of the results, after closing with a 2% increase at $19.87. Just as the quarter was about to end, co-founder Ben Silbermann stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by Bill Ready, a former Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL,
-1.26%
GOOG,
-0.99%
and PayPal Inc.
PYPL,
+2.35%
executive who has long been focused on e-commerce. Many analysts took the move as a signal to Wall Street that Pinterest was trying to shift its focus to becoming a stronger player in e-commerce instead of relying on online advertising, a business that has been slammed so far in 2022 with rivals like Snap Inc.
SNAP,
-3.44%
and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
+0.52%
showing signs of struggle. Opinion: Pinterest’s new CEO faces …