Pinterest shares surge 15% after Q1 revenue hits $663m

Pinterest shares rose 15% in after-hours trading on May 8, 2025 after the company reported its first-quarter earnings and provided guidance that exceeded market expectations.

The social media platform announced 570 million monthly active users for Q1, surpassing analysts’ estimates of 565 million.

Revenue for the quarter included US$663 million from the US and Canada, slightly below the projected US$664 million.

European revenue reached US$147 million, exceeding the forecast of US$141 million.

Global average revenue per user met expectations at US$1.52.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Digital ad platforms show varying resilience to macroeconomic headwinds

Pinterest’s strong performance stands out against a backdrop of industry-wide caution about advertising spend in 2025.

While Pinterest forecasts revenue growth between $960-980 million for Q2, other platforms like Snap declined to provide guidance due to economic uncertainties, causing their stock to drop 13% after earnings 1.

This divergence appears amid analyst predictions of a global ad spend decrease of $20 billion due to factors including U.S. trade tariffs, EU regulations, and declining consumer confidence 2.

Recent industry research shows 94% of U.S. advertisers expressing concern about the economic climate, with 45% planning to reduce budgets in response to these pressures 3.

Pinterest’s resilience may be connected to the platform’s strategic positioning, as CEO Bill Ready emphasized their “consistent execution” making the company “more resilient than ever” in the evolving digital ad landscape 1.

2️⃣ Trade tensions creating uneven impacts across digital advertising sector

The ending of the de minimis trade loophole is specifically impacting Asia-based e-commerce exporters’ ad spending, illustrating how geopolitical factors affect digital platforms differently.

Meta’s CFO Susan Li directly pointed to reduced spending from these exporters following trade policy changes, expressing uncertainty about how the situation would evolve through the year 1.