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PINS Benefits From Strong User Growth: More Upside Ahead?
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Key Takeaways
Pinterest ended Q1 2026 with 631M global MAUs, up 11% year over year across all regions.
PINS expanded its PinRec AI system globally, boosting discovery, search fulfillment and engagement.
Pinterest trades below industry on forward price-to-sales, while 2026 earnings estimates rose.
Pinterest, Inc. (PINS - Free Report) ended the first quarter of 2026 with 631 million global MAUs, up 11% year over year, marking continued double-digit expansion. Growth was broad-based across regions, with Rest of World MAUs rising 15%, Europe up 7% and the United States and Canada increasing 4%.
Ten consecutive quarters of double-digit user growth are driven by multiple factors. Pinterest's proprietary AI recommendation system, called PinRec, is a major contributor. It was initially deployed across search and related surfaces in 2025. Later, PINS expanded PinRec globally across the platform during the first quarter of 2026. The AI system provides personalized recommendations across the entire platform based on users' interests and behaviors. This has significantly improved Pinterest discovery experiences and user satisfaction.
The company highlighted that more than 80 billion searches occur monthly on the platform, with roughly half tied to commercial intent, reinforcing Pinterest’s positioning as a discovery-led shopping platform. Search ranking enhancements in first-quarter 2026 improved search fulfillment and user saves. Management also noted deeper engagement trends globally and within the United States and Canada region. Growing adoption among Gen Z users, improved lower-funnel ad formats, and expanded merchant integrations are driving monetization. However, it should be noted that user growth remains concentrated in international markets with lower monetization potential.
Per our estimate, MAUs from the United States and Canada are expected to reach 110 million, up 4.6% year over year in 2026. MAUs from Europe are approximated to be 163 million, indicating 3.2% year-over-year growth. From the rest of the world, MAUs are estimated at 396 million, implying a solid 11.2% uptick year over year in 2026.
How Are Competitors Faring?
Pinterest faces fierce competition in the digital advertising space from Meta Platforms, Inc. (META - Free Report) and Snap, Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) . Meta is utilizing AI to boost user engagement in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. By improving its AI recommendation engine, the company has increased users’ time spent on Facebook by 8% and Reels time spent on Instagram by 10%. During the first quarter of 2026, META registered a Family Daily Active People of 3.56 billion, up from 3.43 billion a year ago.
Snapchat holds a structurally advantaged position as the preferred social platform for teenagers and young adults, the demographic that advertisers most aggressively compete to reach. SNAP's global community reached 483 million daily active users (DAU) in the first quarter, up 5% year over year, marking a return to DAU growth following a sequential decline in the prior quarter. Snap added nine million DAU on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
PINS’ Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Pinterest has declined 42.6% over the past year compared with the industry’s decrease of 18.6%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Pinterest trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.12, below the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pinterest’s earnings for 2026 has increased over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Pinterest currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
PINS Benefits From Strong User Growth: More Upside Ahead?
Key Takeaways
Pinterest, Inc. (PINS - Free Report) ended the first quarter of 2026 with 631 million global MAUs, up 11% year over year, marking continued double-digit expansion. Growth was broad-based across regions, with Rest of World MAUs rising 15%, Europe up 7% and the United States and Canada increasing 4%.
Ten consecutive quarters of double-digit user growth are driven by multiple factors. Pinterest's proprietary AI recommendation system, called PinRec, is a major contributor. It was initially deployed across search and related surfaces in 2025. Later, PINS expanded PinRec globally across the platform during the first quarter of 2026. The AI system provides personalized recommendations across the entire platform based on users' interests and behaviors. This has significantly improved Pinterest discovery experiences and user satisfaction.
The company highlighted that more than 80 billion searches occur monthly on the platform, with roughly half tied to commercial intent, reinforcing Pinterest’s positioning as a discovery-led shopping platform. Search ranking enhancements in first-quarter 2026 improved search fulfillment and user saves. Management also noted deeper engagement trends globally and within the United States and Canada region. Growing adoption among Gen Z users, improved lower-funnel ad formats, and expanded merchant integrations are driving monetization. However, it should be noted that user growth remains concentrated in international markets with lower monetization potential.
Per our estimate, MAUs from the United States and Canada are expected to reach 110 million, up 4.6% year over year in 2026. MAUs from Europe are approximated to be 163 million, indicating 3.2% year-over-year growth. From the rest of the world, MAUs are estimated at 396 million, implying a solid 11.2% uptick year over year in 2026.
How Are Competitors Faring?
Pinterest faces fierce competition in the digital advertising space from Meta Platforms, Inc. (META - Free Report) and Snap, Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) . Meta is utilizing AI to boost user engagement in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. By improving its AI recommendation engine, the company has increased users’ time spent on Facebook by 8% and Reels time spent on Instagram by 10%. During the first quarter of 2026, META registered a Family Daily Active People of 3.56 billion, up from 3.43 billion a year ago.
Snapchat holds a structurally advantaged position as the preferred social platform for teenagers and young adults, the demographic that advertisers most aggressively compete to reach. SNAP's global community reached 483 million daily active users (DAU) in the first quarter, up 5% year over year, marking a return to DAU growth following a sequential decline in the prior quarter. Snap added nine million DAU on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
PINS’ Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Pinterest has declined 42.6% over the past year compared with the industry’s decrease of 18.6%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Pinterest trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.12, below the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pinterest’s earnings for 2026 has increased over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Pinterest currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.