(Reuters) – Image-sharing company Pinterest Inc <PINS.N> projected a 60% sales growth for the current quarter, off the back of a healthy rebound in ad spending by businesses after the early months of COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc in the industry.
The forecast, which the company termed an ‘informal’ one, compares to a 35% growth modeled by Wall Street analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
Shares of the company, which also beat third-quarter sales estimates, jumped 28% to $63.05 in extended trading.
Pinterest said it benefited as advertisers redirected spending to its platform following a social media ad boycott campaign that began in July.
A long list of companies have pulled advertising from Facebook Inc <FB.O>, in support of a campaign that called out the social media giant for not doing enough to stop hate speech on its platforms. Some companies have returned since.
“Advertisers tell us that Pinterest is brand safe relative to other consumer internet platforms,” Chief Financial Officer Todd Morgenfeld said.
That boost may wane after the U.S. election cycle is over in November, Morgenfeld cautioned.
Pinterest also noted it gained four million monthly active users (MAUs) in late September as younger users turned to the platform to get design ideas for customized wallpapers for Apple Inc’s new iOS version for iPhones.
“We expect these 4 million MAUs are more likely to churn in Q4,” Morgenfeld said.
Monthly active users jumped 37% to 442 million during the third quarter.
Revenue in the United States, the company’s largest market, jumped 49% to $374 million. It reported average revenue of $1.03 per user, above FactSet estimates of 90 cents.
Pinterest’s total revenue jumped 58% to $443 million, well ahead of analysts’ estimates of $383.5 million.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta)
