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PINS Rides on Strength in Ad Business: Can Momentum Sustain?

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Key Takeaways

  • Pinterest's AI-powered Performance is boosting advertiser returns through automated campaign management.
  • Pinterest is expanding Performance with Smart Assembly and developing its AI-based Business Assistant.
  • Global monthly active users rose 11% to 640 million, supporting advertising growth and commercial intent.

Pinterest, Inc. (PINS - Free Report) is benefiting from improving advertiser demand as AI integration strengthens its advertising platform. Pinterest Performance+ automates several aspects of campaign management, including targeting, bidding, budgeting and creative optimization. Advertisers using Performance+ are generating better returns on ad spend.

Pinterest is also broadening Performance+ with new capabilities. Its Smart Assembly feature allows advertisers without product catalogs to upload multiple images, after which Pinterest automatically selects and serves creative suited to individual impressions. The company is simultaneously developing Business Assistant, an AI-based tool designed to empower advertisers with recommendations on trends, high-performing Pins and campaign optimization opportunities.

Steady growth in user base and expansion in the international market provide an important foundation for its advertising business. Global monthly active users increased 11% year over year to 640 million in the second quarter. More than half of its users are Gen Z. Pinterest’s platform generates more than 80 billion searches every month and has more than 16 billion boards. These engagement and intent signals give advertisers access to users who are often exploring products and ideas with commercial intent.  These factors are driving demand for Pinterest AI native advertising tools and boosting the company's commercial prospects for upcoming quarters.

How Are Competitors Faring?

Pinterest faces competition from META Platforms, Inc. (META - Free Report) and Snap, Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) in the social media space. Snap is helping advertisers reach millennials and Gen Z audiences, who are more active on immersive mobile platforms like Snapchat. Its Ads Model Context Protocol server integration went live in August 2026, allowing advertisers to connect third-party AI tools to authorized campaign data for agentic campaign advice. AI is becoming central to Snap's product experience and advertising infrastructure. Smart Audience, Smart Budget and Smart Placement already account for nearly 70% of advertising spend using at least one automation solution.

Meta’s scale in data and distribution supports faster iteration in both consumer experiences and ad performance. In second-quarter 2026, Family of Apps revenues rose 28% year over year to $60.4 billion as ad impressions increased 14% and average price per ad increased 12%. Meta also deployed more predictive ad models, including Meta Generative Recommender.

PINS’ Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Pinterest has declined 45.7% over the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 12.9%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, Pinterest trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 2.06, below the industry.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pinterest’s earnings for 2026 has increased over the past 60 days.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Pinterest currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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