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Pinterest Readies Itself for Early 2019 IPO

Online image-search company could choose bankers for the offering as early as January

Dec. 19, 2018

Pinterest Inc. is actively preparing for an IPO that could come as soon as April, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, the latest in a line of tech companies ramping up plans to go public.

Pinterest has told bankers it could choose its slate of underwriters to run the initial-public-offering process as soon as January, these people said. It could achieve a valuation in the public market at or in excess of $12 billion—the level at which it most recently raised funding, some of the people said. Valuations can change until a company prices its initial public offering.

In September, Pinterest surpassed more than 250 million monthly active users, who visit the site to browse through billions of images on topics ranging from living-room furniture to dinner recipes and tattoos. The company generates revenue from ads scattered across its site and is poised to generate revenue in excess of $700 million this year, up 50% from the prior year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Should Pinterest move forward with an IPO in the first half of 2019, it would join a gaggle of highly valued startups, like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., that have stayed private for years and are now gearing up for debuts next year.

Pinterest’s CEO Ben Silbermann has said the company would look to debut in 2019, without being more specific.

Bankers and advisers say some companies have ramped up IPO preparations to get ready to go public in the first half because of concerns about a steeper market selloff next year. Uber and Lyft Inc. both recently filed paperwork confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission for IPOs that could come as soon as early 2019, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Pinterest is also in conversations with banks for a credit line that could come in at around $500 million, these people said. Companies tend to make such moves ahead of their IPOs, and banks are often incentivized to lend to companies in the run-up to an IPO to land a key role on the offering. Pinterest recently contacted a number of large banks asking how much they would be willing to commit to the loan, and at what terms, the people said.

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Pinterest Steps Up Planning for IPO, Aims to List Shares on NYSE in April

March 21, 2019

Pinterest Inc. has sped up the timing of its initial public offering as the image-search company looks to tap into a red-hot market for new issues, according to people familiar with the matter.

The startup, which submitted its IPO paperwork confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, is preparing to make the filing public as early as Friday and list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in mid-April, the people said.

Pinterest, last valued privately at about $12 billion, is racing to debut as the IPO market gains momentum. On Thursday, shares of Levi Strauss & Co. roared ahead in their debut after the jeans maker priced the stock above its targeted range. The shares closed at $22.41, up 31.8%, for the third-biggest first-day jump for a big, non-technology IPO since 2015, according to Dealogic.

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Pinterest Chief Executive Ben Silbermann has been meeting with potential investors in New York and London in recent weeks ahead of a formal roadshow expected to take place next month.

Executives of companies in the IPO pipeline and their underwriters are mindful that the good times will end sooner or later and are eager to have their shares start trading before that happens.

By moving forward with an IPO in mid-April, Pinterest will likely beat Uber, which is expected to stage one of the largest IPOs on record as soon as late April.

Like most founder-led technology companies, Pinterest will debut with a dual-class structure that gives some existing investors extra votes per share, people familiar with the company said. Some stock indexes have banned newly public companies with dual-class structures, which governance advocates frown upon.

In a move that appears to be aimed at shoring up its governance, Pinterest insiders, including Mr. Silbermann, will only be able to retain their supervoting shares after a certain period of time if they continue to hold a certain amount of stock and, in the case of executives, remain with the company, some of the people said.

In September, Pinterest, which launched in 2010, surpassed 250 million monthly active users, who visit the site to browse through billions of images on topics ranging from living-room furniture to dinner recipes and tattoos.

The company generates revenue from ads scattered across its site and notched more than $700 million in 2018, up 50% from the prior year.

In meetings with investors, Mr. Silbermann has pitched Pinterest as an alternative to online-ad giants Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

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Pinterest Sets IPO Price Below Last Valuation

April 8, 2019

Pinterest Inc. set a price range of $15 to $17 for its initial public offering, a range that is below where it last raised money privately, as the image-search company begins its roadshow to pitch the shares to investors Monday.

The company said it plans to sell up to 75 million shares in the IPO, which at the midpoint of the price range would raise roughly $1.2 billion.

Pinterest last sold shares to pre-IPO investors in 2017 at a price of $21.54 each, valuing the company at roughly $12 billion. At the proposed price range, Pinterest would be valued below that level.

There is no guarantee that IPO shares will ultimately be priced within the initial range, and underwriters typically seek to set conservative expectations with the hope that they can exceed them when the shares are sold. Pinterest’s shares are expected to start trading next week on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PINS.

Lyft Inc., which had been closely watched as a barometer for highly valued technology companies entering the public domain, stumbled somewhat after its recent debut and that may have contributed to Pinterest’s decision to take a conservative tack. The ride-hailing company priced its IPO in late March above its initial range, which was well above its last private valuation.

Pinterest’s listing will be the next big test. After that, Uber Technologies Inc. is expected to stage the biggest offering of the year—and one of the largest IPOs on record—as soon as May.

Like many founder-led technology companies, Pinterest will debut with a dual-class structure that gives existing investors 20 votes per share compared with public investors, who will be entitled to one vote per share.

Pinterest has reported sharp revenue growth and narrowing losses. Its revenue for 2018 totaled $756 million, up from $472.9 million a year earlier. The company’s net loss narrowed to $63 million from $130 million in 2017.

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Pinterest is where more than 250 million people around the world go to get inspiration for their lives. They come to discover ideas for just about anything you can imagine: daily activities like cooking dinner or deciding what to wear, major commitments like remodeling a house or training for a marathon, ongoing passions like fly fishing or fashion and milestone events like planning a wedding or a dream vacation.

We call these people Pinners. We show them visual recommendations, which we call Pins, based on their personal taste and interests. They then save and organize these recommendations into collections, called boards. Browsing and saving visual ideas on our service helps Pinners imagine what their future could look like, which helps them go from inspiration to reality.

Valuable Audience : Pinterest reaches more than 250 million monthly active users, two thirds of whom are female. In the United States, our total audience includes 43% of internet users, according to an independent study by Comscore based on total unique visitors to our service. This includes eight out of 10 moms, who are often the primary decision-makers when it comes to buying products and services for their household, as well as more than half of all U.S. millennials. We expect to continue to grow our user base over time, especially in international markets.

Over two billion text based searches and guided searches happen on Pinterest every month, based on monthly average searches for the year ended December 31, 2018, with 85% on mobile devices.

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For the year ended December 31, 2018, global ARPU was $3.14, which represents an increase of 25% compared to the year ended December 31, 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2018, U.S. ARPU was $9.04 and international ARPU was $0.25, which represent increases of 47% and 22%, respectively, compared to the year ended December 31, 2017.

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Pinterest prices IPO at $19, valuing social media company at $10 billion

Pinterest raised $1.43 billion in its IPO after pricing the offering at $19 a share on Wednesday, valuing the company at $10 billion.

Pinterest, which is expected to start trading on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, had originally given a pricing range of $15 to $17. But investors appear to be showing an appetite for the social media company despite the challenges Lyft has faced since becoming the first consumer tech IPO of the year last month.

CNBC reported earlier on Wednesday that the company would price above the expected range. Pinterest’s revenue jumped 60% last year to $756 million, and the company moved significantly closer to profitability with a net loss of $63 million. Still, Pinterest’s IPO is below the $12 billion valuation it attained in a 2017 financing round.

Founded in 2010 by Ben Silbermann, a former Google employee, and Evan Sharp, who was previously a designer at Facebook, Pinterest has grown to 265 million monthly users.

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Pinterest to Announce First Quarter 2019 Results
05/01/2019

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE: PINS) announced today that the company will release financial results and a shareholder letter for the first quarter 2019 on Thursday, May 16, 2019 after market close. Pinterest will host a Q&A conference call to discuss these results at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET) on the same day.

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Full year 2019 outlook

• Total revenue is expected to be between $1,055 million and $1,080 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $(70) million and $(45) million.

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Full year 2019 outlook
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Total revenue is expected to be between $1,100 million and $1,115 million, compared to our prior forecast of $1,095 million and $1,115 million.

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Pinterest Stock Spikes on Report of PayPal Buyout Interest. Pinterest Has No Comment.

Oct. 20, 2021

Pinterest stock was jumping on a report that said PayPal was exploring a potential acquisition of the social media company.

PayPal was looking to acquire Pinterest at around $70 a share, which would value the social media site at roughly $39 billion, people familiar with the deal told Bloomberg. The price would represent a 26% premium to Pinterest’s closing price of $55.58 on Tuesday. The terms could still change, and there is no certainty the talks will lead to an agreement, Bloomberg said.

Pinterest stock was up 9.7% Wednesday to $60.84 after rising as much as 13% following the report. Earlier this year, the stock rallied after the Financial Times reported that Microsoft was interested in buying Pinterest. Microsoft owns professional network LinkedIn, but lacks the exposure to consumer-focused networking that Pinterest has. Had the deal gone through, it would have been one of the largest Microsoft acquisitions to date.

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Pinterest jumps after earnings beat

Wed, Apr 27 2022

Pinterest jumped in after-hours trading Wednesday after the social media company reported first quarter 2022 earnings that beat analyst expectations.

Here’s how Pinterest did versus Refinitiv consensus estimates:

• EPS: 10 cents adjusted vs 4 cents expected
• Revenue: $575 million vs $573 million

Pinterest said it expects second quarter revenue to grow about 11% year over year.

Pinterest said its global monthly active users decreased 9% from the same period a year ago to 433 million. Investors anticipated 437.9 million total monthly active users, according to FactSet and StreetAccount. The company attributed the decline largely to pandemic growth in the year-ago quarter and lower search traffic, driven by Google’s algorithm change in November 2021.

Global average revenue per user came in at $1.33, up 28% from last year. Wall Street had expected ARPU of $1.31, according to FactSet and StreetAccount’s preview.

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