Shares in Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) brushed aside underwhelming quarterly financial results yesterday as investors continued to buy following the news last month activist investor Elliott Management took a stake in the social media platform.
Pinterest said yesterday turnover increased 9% year-over-year to US$666mln in the second quarter to the end of June.
However, the number of global monthly active users on the platform fell 5% to 433mln.
Moreover, it posted a net loss of US$43mln for the quarter, compared to a profit of more than US$69mln in the equivalent part of 2021.
Pinterest’s new chief executive Bill Ready, who took over from founding CEO Ben Silbermann this summer, said the company accelerated investment in “shopping and ecommerce” during the quarter as it seeks to better monetise the platform.
“Pinterest is uniquely positioned to tackle unsolved problems in our industry, capitalise on long-term digital commerce trends and help people go from inspiration to realisation,” he said.
The former Google executive said in a letter to shareholders that he was focused on developing a long-term plan to help pinners engage “more deeply” with products and services on the platform.
But all eyes continue to be on Elliott Management. The activist investor wrote to the social media platform in July to say it had become its largest shareholder after taking a 9% stake.
After a lull in its share price, the New York-listed shares have soared 16.49% in the past five days alone and continued to rise in after-hours trades following the results.