Social post-sharing brand Pinterest has enjoyed some phenomenal movement on the stock market with shares rising by nearly 30%. This came after the company delivered some outstanding third-quarter results showing how revenues had grown by 58% in the past year to $443 million.
Such figures were at least 15% higher than many industry analysts had been expecting. Much of this has been put down to the fact that Pinterest had witnessed a surge in user growth. This saw the active users each month growing to 442 million – 37% higher than last year.
Pinterest has managed to carve an enviable niche in the market that sits somewhere between online shopping and regular social media. The brand has recently made some key upgrades to its social sharing platform. These include self-serve advertisement tools along with increased functionality for e-commerce.
The social media and tech industries were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, but Pinterest’s figures give room for hope for any business that draws a large part of its revenues from advertising. There were also rises in the share prices of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Twitter.
But Pinterest’s rapid growth comes amid speculation that the brand is increasingly being seen as a safer option than more ‘toxic’ social media brands such as Twitter and Facebook. With the US presidential election just around the corner, advertisers have been drawn towards Pinterest as it is seen to feature less hate speech and bias.
This summer saw over 1,000 businesses including McDonalds, Starbucks, Disney and Coca Cola boycotting advertising on Facebook. This was the social media giant was perceived as facilitating hate speech and using an algorithmic bias.
In contrast Pinterest has been seen to be a largely positive consumer platform that offers a safe place for brands to advertise. The brand is thought to have been well-positioned for the pandemic with users enjoying the site for inspiration while being stuck at home. Pinterest’s newfound enthusiasm for e-commerce has also been well-timed. While shopping on Pinterest is still a new phenomenon, there has been growing integration with ecommerce brands like Shopify.
The latest stock surge has already added $750 to the personal fortunes of Pinterest’s co-founders. The image sharing company is owned by Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann who founded Pinterest in San Francisco in 2009. The trio hold nearly $6 billion in stock.
Pinterest has managed to succeed through keeping its advertising momentum going through the tricky summer months. Much of this was due to the boycott of larger social media brands. But with new moves to create new ad products like branded pages, retail stories and product tagging, it looks like Pinterest is ready for the next wave of online retail development.
It remains to be seen whether Pinterest can maintain this upward trajectory in the final quarter of the year. But with company forecasts predicting a growth in revenues of 60%, it looks like a good time to join the Pinterest revolution.
