Record Revenue and Strong Top-Line Growth
Q1 revenue of $1.08 billion, up 18% year-over-year (15% constant currency); third consecutive quarter above $1B; Q2 revenue guide $1.133B–$1.153B (14%–16% YoY).
· PINS
May 4th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-04
- Change Since:
- -4.75%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-08-04
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call highlighted multiple strong operational and financial signs of momentum — double-digit revenue growth, record MAUs, improving adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, meaningful AI-driven performance gains, early success from the TV Scientific acquisition, and an aggressive share repurchase — while also acknowledging persistent headwinds from large retailers, ad pricing pressure, near-term cost increases tied to AI/GPU investments and integration of TV Scientific, and short-term international reorganization impacts. On balance the positives (top-line growth, profitability, cash generation, AI-driven product improvements, and successful early advertiser case studies) outweigh the challenges, though management signals work remains to fully monetize engagement globally.
Company Guidance
Management guided Q2 2026 revenue of $1.133–$1.153 billion (14–16% YoY) and adjusted EBITDA of $256–$276 million, noting current spot rates imply roughly a one‑point FX tailwind and Q2 non‑GAAP cost of revenue is expected to rise sequentially by mid‑single digits (partly from TV Scientific and added GPU capacity) with seasonally higher Sales & Marketing and sales headcount spend. For context, Q1 results included $1.08 billion revenue (+18% YoY; +15% constant currency), $207 million adjusted EBITDA (20% margin, +40 bps YoY), $312 million free cash flow, 631 million MAUs (+11% YoY: UCAN 106M +4%, Europe 159M +7%, Rest of World 367M +15%), ad impressions +24% and ad pricing −5% YoY, cost of revenue $232 million (+20% YoY) and non‑GAAP operating expense $574 million (+16% YoY). Company activity YTD includes ~$2.0 billion of share repurchases (109 million shares at a weighted average ~$18, ~16% reduction in shares outstanding), $1.3 billion cash and a full‑year adjusted EBITDA margin expectation of ~29% (including ~100 bps drag from TV Scientific) with medium‑term targets of 30–34%.
User Growth and Deepening Engagement
Global MAUs reached a record 631 million, up 11% YoY; platform records ~80 billion monthly searches with ~50% commercial queries; ten+ quarters of double-digit user growth and expanding engagement, particularly in UCAN and Gen Z cohorts.
Profitability and Cash Generation
Adjusted EBITDA of $207 million in Q1 with a 20% adjusted EBITDA margin (+40 basis points YoY); Q1 free cash flow of $312 million; cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.3 billion at quarter end.
Aggressive Share Repurchase
Repurchased roughly $2 billion of stock (≈109 million shares) year-to-date at a weighted average price of ~$18, reducing shares outstanding by ~16% versus a quarter ago; $2 billion remaining on a $3.5 billion authorization.
AI and Product Improvements Driving Measurable Performance Gains
PinRack generative retrieval drove ~180 bps improvement in search fulfillment and ~180 bps reduction in CPA/CPC; search-ranking updates improved fulfillment ~70 bps and saved ~390 bps; Shopping ROAS model experiments delivered up to +11% ROAS; Canvas creative model and Performance Plus adoption (~30% of lower-funnel revenue) are improving advertiser outcomes (Mejuri A/B: +46% ROAS, +62% conversions).
TV Scientific Acquisition and CTV Early Wins
TV Scientific acquisition closed in Q1; early advertiser tests showed large uplifts (one partner saw ~190% increase in incremental audience reach and ~159% increase in incremental sales); other pilots cited ~27% increase in outcomes and ~65% increase in purchases when layering Pinterest audiences onto TV Scientific algorithms.
Operator
Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to Pinterest, Inc. first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Andrew Somberg, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury. Please go ahead.
Andrew Somberg
Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. Welcome to Pinterest, Inc. earnings call for the first quarter ended 03/31/2026. Joining me on today's call are William J. Ready, Pinterest, Inc. CEO, and Julia Brau Donnelly, our CFO. The statements we make on this call reflect management's view as of today, and will include forward-looking statements. Such statements involve a number of assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially.
We disclaim any obligation to update these statements. For information about assumptions, risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could affect our results, please refer to our earnings press releases and the periodic reports we file with the SEC and available on our Investor Relations website at investor.pinterest.com. During this call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP measures is included in today's earnings press release and presentation, which are distributed and available to the public through our Investor Relations website. Lastly, all growth rates discussed today are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise...
Subscribe to unlock transcripts
Get The Fly Pro 7 days for free