A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Pinterest (PINS Quick QuotePINS - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 9.2% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

But investors have to be wondering, will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Pinterest due for a breakout? Well, first let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for Pinterest, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.

Pinterest's Q2 Earnings Top Estimates on AI-Led Ad Growth

Pinterest reported second-quarter 2026 non-GAAP earnings of 43 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents by 19.44%. The bottom line increased from the year-ago quarter’s adjusted earnings, while revenues climbed 18% year over year to $1.18 billion and topped the consensus estimate of $1.152 billion by 2.39%.

Results reflected continued momentum in AI-powered advertising, improving monetization and record user growth. Global monthly active users (MAUs) increased 11% year over year to 640 million, marking the company's 12th consecutive quarter of record users.

PINS Posts Another Quarter of User Growth

Pinterest ended the quarter with 640 million global MAUs, up 11% year over year, extending its streak of double-digit user growth. Growth remained broad-based across geographies, with U.S. and Canada MAUs increasing 4%, Europe rising 8% and Rest of World climbing 15%.

User engagement continued to benefit from AI-driven personalization. Management highlighted that Pinterest's proprietary Taste Graph is powered by more than 80 billion monthly searches and more than 16 billion user-created boards, helping deliver more relevant recommendations and strengthening the platform's position as a visual shopping destination.

Pinterest Expands Monetization Through AI

Pinterest generated revenues of $1.18 billion, up 18% year over year. Growth was led by stronger advertiser demand, particularly across conversion and consideration campaigns, supported by enhancements to the company's AI-powered advertising platform. Retail remained the largest contributor, while financial services, travel and health were among the fastest-growing verticals.

Geographically, U.S. and Canada revenues increased 18% to $880 million. Europe revenues rose 12% to $213 million, while Rest of World revenues surged 38% to $87 million. Ad impressions increased 16% year over year, while average ad pricing improved 1%, aided by stronger demand in the higher-priced U.S. and Canada market.

PINS Advances AI Products Across Platform

Artificial intelligence remained central to Pinterest's product strategy during the quarter. The company rolled out Pinterest Assistant to the vast majority of U.S. users, enabling conversational shopping experiences, product comparisons and personalized recommendations throughout the buying journey.

Pinterest also expanded its advertising capabilities. Smart Assembly was introduced to automatically optimize creative assets for advertisers without product catalogs, while Business Assistant entered beta to help advertisers improve campaign performance. Management also expanded testing of AI-powered bidding integrations and continued building out Pinterest Performance+ to automate campaign creation, targeting and optimization.

Pinterest Margins Improve Despite Investments

Pinterest continued to deliver profitability improvements as revenue growth outpaced spending. Adjusted EBITDA increased 24% year over year to $311 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 26% from 25% in the prior-year period.

Cost of revenue increased 25% year over year to $245 million, reflecting higher GPU infrastructure investments and the full-quarter impact of tvScientific. Non-GAAP operating expenses rose 13%, driven primarily by higher sales and marketing spending tied to the company's new brand campaign and increased research and development investments supporting AI initiatives.

PINS Strengthens Cash Flow and Liquidity

Pinterest generated $293 million in operating cash flow and $270 million in free cash flow during the second quarter. The company ended the period with $1.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. It also allocated $58 million toward share repurchases during the quarter and noted that it had repurchased more than $2 billion of stock year to date, retiring approximately 111 million shares.

The company also entered into a capped-call transaction for $99 million, increasing protection against dilution from its previously issued convertible notes up to a share price of $30.59. Management said the strong cash generation and balance sheet provide flexibility to continue investing in AI initiatives while returning capital to shareholders.

Pinterest Outlook Reflects Continued Growth

For the third quarter of 2026, Pinterest expects revenues between $1.19 billion and $1.21 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 13% to 15%. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in the range of $335 million to $355 million.

Management also raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA margin outlook to approximately 30% from the prior target of 29%, reflecting stronger-than-expected first-half execution. The company expects continued progress from AI-driven advertising, monetization initiatives and go-to-market improvements, although foreign exchange and the timing of Prime Day and World Cup-related advertising spending are expected to create modest headwinds in the third quarter.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, estimates revision have trended upward during the past month.

The consensus estimate has shifted -5.74% due to these changes.

VGM Scores

At this time, Pinterest has a nice Growth Score of B, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a score of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. Notably, Pinterest has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.

Performance of an Industry Player

Pinterest is part of the Zacks Internet - Software industry. Over the past month, Meta Platforms (META Quick QuoteMETA - Free Report) , a stock from the same industry, has gained 0.7%. The company reported its results for the quarter ended June 2026 more than a month ago.

Meta Platforms reported revenues of $60.8 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +28%. EPS of $6.18 for the same period compares with $7.14 a year ago.

For the current quarter, Meta Platforms is expected to post earnings of $6.33 per share, indicating a change of -12.7% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed -4.3% over the last 30 days.

The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Meta Platforms. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of C.