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(Reuters) -Pinterest's fourth-quarter revenue forecast failed to impress investors looking for a boost from the holiday shopping season, as bigger online ad sellers largely outperformed, sending its shares down 12% in extended trading on Thursday. The company also announced a new stock buyback program of up to $2 billion and canceled the September 2023 program under which $500 million were available for repurchase. Pinterest's results follow quarterly reports by digital ad bellwethers – including Google-parent Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Reddit and Snap – which posted upbeat third quarter revenue, helped by robust ad spending.
Pinterest released Performance+ suite in October to better target users by enhancing ad campaigns with new AI tools and automation features on the platform. "Performance+ is still in the early rollout phase, with many advertisers limiting budget shifts and adoption of new features during holiday peak period," CFO Julia Donnelly said on a post-earnings call. The company is also seeing "softness" among food and beverage advertisers, Donnelly said.
Pinterest forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $1.13 billion and $1.15 billion, the midpoint of which was in line with analysts' average estimates of $1.
14 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. The company's revenue grew 18% to $898.4 million in the reported quarter, compared with estimates of $896.
4 million. Adjusted profit per share for the quarter came in at 40 cents, compared with estimates of 34 cents. Global monthly active users on the platform rose 11% to 537 million in the July-to-September period, compared with estimates of 531.
5 million. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber).
