1. Google for visual inspiration and product discovery.

2. Instagram for finding and saving ideas for your life, home, and purchases.

• Pinterest Platform: A visual discovery engine and social media service where users explore, save, and share ideas represented by images and videos (Pins) across diverse interests.
• Advertising Services: A suite of tools and ad formats enabling businesses to reach Pinterest users through paid promotions, driving traffic, brand awareness, and sales.

Pinterest (symbol: PINS) sells primarily to other companies. These companies are advertisers who utilize Pinterest's platform to reach its user base with visual ads and promoted pins.

While Pinterest does not publicly disclose the specific names of its "major" customer companies (i.e., its largest advertisers) due to proprietary business information, their customer base consists of a wide range of businesses across various industries. These advertisers are typically seeking to inspire consumers, drive product discovery, and ultimately lead to purchases. The primary categories of companies that serve as Pinterest's major customers include:

• Retailers and E-commerce Brands: Companies selling products across categories like fashion, home decor, electronics, health & beauty, and general merchandise. They advertise to showcase products, drive traffic to their websites, and generate sales.
• Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Companies: Brands selling food, beverages, household products, and personal care items. They use Pinterest for brand awareness, recipe inspiration, product usage ideas, and driving purchases.
• Home and Lifestyle Brands: Businesses specializing in home furnishings, decor, DIY supplies, gardening, and other lifestyle-related products and services. Pinterest is a highly visual platform where users actively seek inspiration for their homes and lives.
• Fashion and Beauty Brands: Companies in the apparel, accessories, cosmetics, and skincare industries frequently advertise to showcase new collections, promote trends, and connect with style-conscious users.
• Travel and Hospitality Companies: Airlines, hotels, resorts, and tourism boards advertise to inspire travel planning and bookings, leveraging Pinterest's strong visual storytelling capabilities.

These companies, ranging from large multinational corporations to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), are the primary customers paying Pinterest for its advertising services.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS), subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

Bill Ready, Chief Executive Officer

Bill Ready has served as CEO of Pinterest since June 2022. Prior to joining Pinterest, he was the President of Commerce, Payments & Next Billion Users at Google from 2020 to 2022. Before his time at Google, Ready served as Chief Operating Officer of PayPal, and as CEO of both Venmo and Braintree. He led Braintree and Venmo from pre-revenue to billions in revenue and through their acquisition by PayPal. Ready was also president of iPay Technologies, which was sold to Jack Henry & Associates in 2010 for $300 million. Earlier in his career, he was an executive in residence at Accel Partners, a venture capital firm.

Julia Brau Donnelly, Chief Financial Officer

Julia Brau Donnelly joined Pinterest as Chief Financial Officer in 2023. In this role, she oversees all global finance functions, including accounting, FP&A, tax, treasury, corporate development, and investor relations. Previously, she served for more than seven years at Wayfair, most recently as Vice President & Global Head of Finance & Accounting. Before Wayfair, Donnelly was a private equity investor in media and technology companies at Thomas H. Lee Partners for six years, and an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. She has also served on the boards of directors for iHeartMedia and Agencyport Software.

Ben Silbermann, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman

Ben Silbermann co-founded Pinterest in March 2010. He served as the company's CEO until June 2022, when he transitioned to the role of Executive Chairman, focusing on long-term innovation and strategic direction. Before Pinterest, Silbermann worked at Google in online advertising and also developed iPhone applications.

Malik Ducard, Chief Content Officer

Malik Ducard has served as Pinterest's Chief Content Officer since December 2021. In this role, he is responsible for setting the company's global content strategy and expanding creator partnerships. Prior to Pinterest, Ducard was the Vice President of Content Partnerships at YouTube and the Senior Vice President of Digital Distribution at Paramount Pictures.

Christine Deputy, Chief People Officer

Christine Deputy joined Pinterest as Chief People Officer in 2021. She is responsible for all aspects of Pinterest's human resources strategy, including talent management, leadership development, and pay and benefits. Before joining Pinterest, Deputy served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Nordstrom for six years. Her experience also includes leading teams at notable brands such as Barclays, Aviva, Dunkin Brands, and Starbucks.

The key risks to Pinterest's business (PINS) include its susceptibility to macroeconomic factors impacting ad revenue, intense competition for users and advertisers, and the challenges of balancing monetization with user experience and content quality.

1. Ad Revenue Vulnerability to Macroeconomic Factors and Tariffs: Pinterest's advertising revenue is significantly exposed to volatile macroeconomic conditions and shifting trade policies. Changes in U.S. tariff policies, for instance, have prompted major Asian e-commerce advertisers to reduce their U.S. ad spend on the platform, redirecting budgets to other regions. This has led to a decline in advertising prices and has caused Pinterest to miss revenue projections. Analysts have noted a 25% decline in advertising prices in Q2 2023 due to reduced U.S. ad spend from key advertisers.
2. Intense Competition and User Growth/Engagement Challenges: Pinterest operates in a highly competitive social media and digital advertising landscape, contending with major platforms like Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, and Snapchat. The company faces ongoing challenges with user growth, particularly in North America, and in maintaining engagement, especially among younger demographics like Gen Z. Stagnant user growth and declining engagement can make the platform less attractive to advertisers, directly impacting its business.
3. Monetization Strategy and Content Quality Concerns: There is a risk associated with Pinterest's ability to sustainably grow its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) without compromising the user experience. Reports indicate user frustration with an increasing volume of ads and a perceived rise in low-quality, AI-generated content on the platform. This tension between increasing ad load for monetization and maintaining content quality and user satisfaction could lead to user attrition and negatively impact long-term engagement and revenue growth.

The aggressive expansion of platforms like TikTok into visual search and e-commerce represents a clear emerging threat. While Pinterest specializes in static images and curated boards for inspiration and planning, TikTok is increasingly becoming a primary destination for younger demographics to discover products, trends, and 'how-to' content through short-form video. This shift in user behavior for product and idea discovery, coupled with TikTok's growing e-commerce capabilities (e.g., TikTok Shop), directly competes for user attention and advertising spend within the inspiration-to-purchase funnel.

The addressable market for Pinterest's main service, which is digital advertising on its social media platform, is estimated to be between $600 billion and $750 billion globally.

Pinterest (PINS) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through several key initiatives:

1. AI-Powered Product Innovation and Shopping Assistant Features: Pinterest is transforming into an "AI-powered visual-first shopping assistant," investing heavily in AI and product innovation to enhance user experience and attract advertisers. New AI-driven features, such as multimodal search for fashion and the voice-activated Pinterest Assistant, are designed to boost user engagement and commercial intent. These innovations have already led to a 44% increase in visual searches powered by its proprietary multimodal large language model (LLM).
2. International Market Expansion and Monetization: The company identifies international markets, particularly Europe and the Rest of the World, as significant opportunities for future revenue growth. Shopping ad revenue in these regions has grown more than twice as fast as the overall revenue growth, with European Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) soaring by 31% and Rest of World ARPU surging by 44%. Pinterest's global monthly active users (MAUs) have reached 600 million, with international markets being a key driver of this growth.
3. Growth in User Engagement and Monthly Active Users (MAUs), Especially Gen Z: Pinterest continues to expand its user base, reaching a record 600 million global MAUs, with Gen Z representing over 50% of the user base and being the fastest-growing demographic. Increased user engagement, particularly from this younger cohort, is crucial for attracting advertisers and thereby growing revenue.
4. Enhanced Advertising Capabilities and Social Commerce Integration: Pinterest is broadening its shopping integrations, including partnerships with companies like Instacart, and introducing new ad formats such as "top of search ads" and "Where to Buy Links" to bolster monetization. Sponsored Pins remain a core revenue driver, and e-commerce features are rapidly expanding. The "Performance+ Suite" of automated campaign tools is proving effective, leading to a 24% improvement in conversions for retail advertisers and helping Pinterest gain a larger share of advertisers' budgets.