By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) stock plunged 20% in Friday’s premarket trading as people preferred to spend more time at reopened theaters, malls and restaurants after a year on social media platforms.
The company admitted that it “disproportionately benefited from increased time spent at home during pandemic lockdowns” as people took to its ‘do-it-yourself’ recipes for cooking and gardening.
In the U.S., its biggest market that accounts for around a fifth of the global base, monthly active users (MAU) fell 5% from a year ago in the second quarter. MAU is a key metric to judge where the traffic is going on social media.
The company attributed much of the decline to web users who tend to be less engaged.
Engagement headwinds on Pinterest have continued in July. As of July 27, U.S. MAUs have declined approximately 7% and global MAUs have grown approximately 5% year-over-year, down from 9% during the second quarter.
The company tried to assuage concerns, saying that shopping engagement continued to be more resilient, search rates remained elevated and “finally Gen Z Pinners continued to be highly engaged”.
Pinterest swung to a profit of $69.41 million in the June quarter from a loss of $100.74 million a year earlier. Total revenue more than doubled to $613 million and came in ahead of analysts’ expectations of $562 million.