Company Description
Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE: PINS) operates in the Internet Content & Information industry within the Communication Services sector. Pinterest describes itself as a visual search and discovery platform where people find inspiration, curate ideas and shop products in what it characterizes as a positive online environment. The company notes that it is headquartered in San Francisco and that it launched in 2010. According to multiple company communications, Pinterest has grown to over half a billion monthly active users worldwide, and more recent disclosures state that it reaches about 600 million monthly active users.
Pinterest’s platform centers on user-created "Pins" that represent ideas, products, and projects. Users save Pins to themed boards, which the company has described as numbering in the billions. These saves generate intent signals about what people are planning to do next. Pinterest states that it uses artificial intelligence (AI) and its internal "Taste Graph" to interpret these signals and deliver personalized recommendations and shopping experiences. Management has repeatedly characterized Pinterest as an AI-powered shopping assistant that helps users move from inspiration to action by surfacing relevant ideas and products.
On the business side, Pinterest generates revenue by selling digital advertising on its platform. The company’s earnings releases describe a focus on performance advertising and lower-funnel solutions that help advertisers drive measurable outcomes, such as product sales. Pinterest reports revenue and user metrics by geography, including the U.S. and Canada, Europe, and the Rest of World, and highlights its ability to attract global advertisers who want to reach its large, intent-driven audience.
Business model and monetization
According to its financial disclosures, Pinterest’s business model combines a large global user base with an advertising platform designed around user intent. The company reports revenue primarily from advertisers who pay to promote content to users on Pinterest. These advertisers can run campaigns that align with how people use the service—for example, planning projects, shopping for products, or gathering ideas for future activities. Pinterest emphasizes that its AI systems and measurement tools are intended to help advertisers understand and improve the performance of their campaigns.
Pinterest’s quarterly and annual results highlight key metrics such as global Monthly Active Users (MAUs), revenue by region, and average revenue per user (ARPU). The company also reports non-GAAP metrics such as Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and free cash flow, and provides reconciliations to GAAP measures in its earnings materials and SEC filings. Management commentary in these releases underscores a multi-year business transformation toward being a personalized shopping destination for users and an AI-powered performance platform for advertisers.
Technology, AI and data signals
Across press releases and earnings commentary, Pinterest places strong emphasis on its use of AI and machine learning. The company explains that users’ saving behavior—Pins saved to boards—creates a predictive intent signal rooted in what people are planning to do. Pinterest’s AI systems, combined with its Taste Graph, are used to deliver personalized content, recommendations and shopping experiences. The company also references AI-powered optimization models in the context of advertising, particularly when discussing performance products and automation.
Partnerships and product initiatives further illustrate this focus. For example, Pinterest has announced a retail media collaboration with Instacart that uses Instacart’s first-party retail purchase data to provide high-intent audiences for Pinterest advertisers. This collaboration aims to make Pinterest ads directly shoppable via Instacart, connecting inspiration on Pinterest with grocery and consumer product purchases. In addition, Pinterest has disclosed an agreement to acquire tvScientific, a connected TV (CTV) performance advertising platform, with the goal of extending its AI-powered performance advertising from mobile and online environments to CTV.
Platform use cases and audience
The company describes Pinterest as a place where people plan and shop across a variety of life moments. Official descriptions mention use cases such as home improvement, fashion, cooking, travel, and other planning-oriented activities. Users come to Pinterest to discover ideas, organize them into boards, and, increasingly, to shop for products related to those ideas. Management commentary highlights that a significant portion of the user base is younger, and that the platform’s role as a personalized shopping destination has strengthened its product-market fit.
Pinterest’s communications emphasize that advertisers value the platform’s high-intent audience. By reaching people when they are actively planning or considering purchases, advertisers can run campaigns that are closely tied to user intent. The company’s collaboration with Instacart, for example, is described as enabling brands to reach consumers based on real-world purchase behavior and to connect discovery on Pinterest with fulfillment through Instacart.
Financial reporting and key metrics
Pinterest regularly reports its financial and operating performance through quarterly earnings releases, which are also furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) via Form 8-K. These releases provide details on revenue growth, net income, Adjusted EBITDA, cash flow, and user metrics such as MAUs and ARPU by region. The company explains its non-GAAP measures, including how it calculates Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and constant currency revenue, and discusses the limitations of these measures relative to GAAP results.
Management commentary in these releases often discusses macroeconomic conditions, the digital advertising environment, user engagement, international monetization, AI development, and the company’s ability to attract and retain advertisers, creators, and publishers. Pinterest also notes risks related to regulation, data privacy, competition, infrastructure, and other factors in its risk disclosures and references to its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings.
Corporate governance and listings
Pinterest’s Class A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PINS. The company files periodic reports and current reports with the SEC, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. These filings cover topics such as financial performance, risk factors, corporate governance, and material events. For example, a Form 8-K filed in September 2025 describes a change in the composition of the Board of Directors, including the retirement of one director and the appointment of a new independent director who also joined the Audit and Risk Committee.
The company’s SEC filings and press releases also describe the use of non-employee director compensation policies and indicate that certain board members are considered independent under New York Stock Exchange rules and SEC regulations. Pinterest uses earnings webcasts, investor presentations, and its investor relations channels to communicate with shareholders and the broader financial community.
Strategic focus and partnerships
In its public communications, Pinterest outlines a strategy centered on becoming a global leader in AI-powered shopping and performance advertising. Management highlights a multi-year transformation that has focused on making the platform more actionable for users and more effective for advertisers. The company has pointed to its role as a positive, inspiration-driven environment as a differentiating factor in attracting both users and advertisers.
Strategic initiatives described in recent announcements include the planned acquisition of tvScientific to extend performance advertising into connected TV, and the collaboration with Instacart to connect Pinterest discovery with shoppable experiences and closed-loop measurement. Pinterest also participates in major technology and media conferences, where executives discuss the company’s strategy, financial performance, and product direction with investors and analysts.
Position within the Internet Content & Information sector
Within the broader Communication Services sector, Pinterest is categorized in the Internet Content & Information industry. Its focus on visual discovery, user intent signals, and AI-driven personalization sets the context for how it competes for user attention and advertising budgets. While the company’s communications do not enumerate specific competitors, they do reference the competitive nature of the industry and the need to scale monetization, expand internationally, and continue to develop effective tools for advertisers.
For investors and analysts, Pinterest’s disclosures provide insight into how a visual search and discovery platform can translate user engagement into advertising revenue. Key areas of focus in these disclosures include user growth, engagement trends, regional monetization, AI capabilities, and the performance of advertising products. Together, these elements define Pinterest’s role as a publicly traded company in the Internet Content & Information space.