Pinterest Turns a Profit in 2021

Pinterest reported revenue of $847 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, up 20% compared with the year-ago period, and $2.58 billion for the full year, up 52%. The company posted GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net income of $175 million in the fourth quarter, down 16% year over year, which included a $49 million one-time share-based compensation charge related to co-founder and chief design and creative officer Evan Sharp’s transition into an advisory role, as well as a $25 million non-cash charitable contribution. For the full year, Pinterest posted GAAP net income of $316.4 million, compared with a net loss of $128.3 million in 2020. Global monthly active users fell 6% from the year-end 2020 figure, ending 2021 at 431 million. Insider Intelligence principal analyst Andrew Lipsman said in a statement, “Pinterest posted a solid quarter on the topline despite the continuation of concerning declines in users. Pinterest has consistently improved its ad monetization, which clearly drove the gains this quarter and demonstrated resilience in the face of Apple's ad tracking changes. While it appears to be weathering the storm better than Facebook at the moment, Pinterest will need to reverse its user declines if it hopes to keep up the topline momentum in coming quarters." Pinterest said it projects revenue growth in the high teens percentagewise in the first quarter of 2022, and it sees non-GAAP operating expenses rising 10% year over year in the first quarter and 40% for the full year. The company added that as of Feb. 1, it had approximately 86.6 million MAUs in the U.S. and roughly 436.8 million worldwide. Pinterest said in its earnings release, “Our key strategic priorities for 2022 are anchored in creator-led and inspirational content, shopping, Pinner experience and advertiser success. We plan to scale our native content ecosystem, and we expect research and development efforts to continue to focus on shopping, Pinner product, ad product and measurement investments. We also intend to grow our headcount further to fund our strategic initiatives. We think these investments will support long-term growth and continue to build the foundations for a scaled business over time.” Co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann said in a statement, “We took important steps in 2021 with the launch of our foundational technology to deliver a video-first publishing platform. And I’m proud to say that for the first time, we surpassed $2 billion in revenue for the year—growing 52% over the previous year—and reached our first full year of GAAP profitability. As we look ahead to 2022, we plan to further invest in our business as we scale the distribution of Idea Pins through our creator-led content efforts and enhance our core Pinner experience and shopping to make Pinterest the destination for inspiration and action on the internet.”

Earnings Reports

Pinterest Turns a Profit in 2021

Revenue rose 20% year over year in the fourth quarter and 52% for the full year

David Cohen

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