Date: December 8, 2025
Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE: PINS) is back in the spotlight today as the stock reacts to a major index upgrade just weeks after a sharp post‑earnings selloff. Between its entry into the S&P MidCap 400, record user growth and an aggressive push into AI‑driven shopping, Pinterest stock now sits at the intersection of powerful long‑term growth narratives and very real short‑term risks.
This article walks through the latest news, fundamentals, analyst forecasts, valuation models and technical signals around Pinterest stock as of December 8, 2025.
Pinterest stock today: price, move and the S&P MidCap 400 catalyst
As of late morning on Monday, December 8, 2025, Pinterest stock trades around $26.75 per share on the NYSE, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $18 billion. [1]
The big news driving sentiment today is that:
- Pinterest will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 index, effective before the market open on December 22, 2025, as part of S&P Dow Jones Indices’ quarterly rebalancing. [2]
- Following the announcement, PINS rose nearly 4% in pre‑market trading, as index-tracking funds and momentum traders reacted to the expected inflows. [3]
- Several live market blogs, including The Wall Street Journal’s “Stocks to Watch” feed, are flagging Pinterest alongside other names affected by the index reshuffle. [4]
Index inclusion doesn’t change the underlying business, but it typically:
- Increases passive demand (mid‑cap index funds and ETFs must buy shares).
- Tends to tighten liquidity and spreads, which can make the stock more attractive to some institutional investors.
- Can create short‑term volatility around the effective date as funds rebalance.
At the same time, today’s price still reflects a stock that is down sharply from its 52‑week high of about $40.90 and only modestly above its 52‑week low near $23.68. [5]
In other words: the S&P MidCap 400 news is positive, but it’s landing in the middle of a bruising reset for Pinterest’s valuation.
Q3 2025 results: record users, solid growth, but softer earnings
Pinterest’s latest earnings report (for the quarter ended September 30, 2025) set new records on several fronts – and still managed to disappoint the market.
From the company’s Q3 2025 results: [6]
- Revenue:
- $1.049 billion, up 17% year‑over‑year (16% in constant currency).
- Profitability (GAAP):
- Net income: ~$92 million, versus ~$31 million in the same quarter last year.
- Diluted EPS:$0.13 (up from $0.04 a year ago).
- Users:
- 600 million global monthly active users (MAUs) – an all‑time high, up 12% year‑over‑year, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of record user growth.
On a non‑GAAP basis, Pinterest reported adjusted EPS of $0.38, which missed analyst expectations of around $0.42 per share. [7]
That EPS miss — combined with cautious commentary about the ad market — triggered a sharp negative reaction:
- Reuters reported that Pinterest’s Q4 2025 revenue guidance came in slightly below Wall Street estimates, signaling intense competition for ad budgets from larger platforms like Meta. Shares fell more than 20% in extended trading after the release. [8]
So, structurally, the business is growing; the issue is that the pace and quality of monetization isn’t yet matching investor expectations for a scaled ad platform.
From “mood board” to AI shopping engine
One of the biggest strategic storylines around Pinterest in 2025 is its shift from being a static “inspiration board” to becoming what the company calls an AI‑powered visual shopping assistant.
A recent breakdown of Q3 by Gotrade’s research team highlights several important points about this transformation: [9]
- Management describes Pinterest as the “first AI‑powered visual shopping assistant,” not just a social platform.
- MAUs reached 600 million, and Gen Z is now the largest and fastest‑growing cohort, representing over 50% of the user base.
- The platform handled around 80 billion queries in Q3, a 44% increase from the prior year, thanks to AI‑driven discovery that surfaces content before users even search.
- New features include:
- Multimodal search (combining text and images).
- A Pinterest Assistant that helps users discover and shop through conversational and voice interactions.
- Outbound clicks to advertisers increased by around 40% in Q3, signaling that users are not just browsing but taking action on what they see.
All of this is exactly what you’d want to see if you’re bullish on Pinterest as a long‑term commerce and discovery platform:
- High-intent users.
- Strong engagement.
- A product that moves closer to the transaction, especially via deep integrations with Amazon and other partners, which allow users to jump from a shoppable pin straight into checkout flows. [10]
However, some of this growth comes with a twist.
Monetization challenges: tariffs, ad pricing and regional mix
The same reports that praise Pinterest’s growth also highlight why the market is uneasy. Two key issues:
1. Tariff-driven ad budget pressure
Reuters notes that U.S. tariff changes — especially the end of the “de minimis” duty‑free exemption for low‑value shipments from China and Hong Kong — have forced some Asia‑based e‑commerce advertisers (such as Temu and Shein) to dial back U.S. ad spending. [11]
That effect isn’t unique to Pinterest, but:
- These advertisers had been heavy spenders on digital ads.
- The rollback in their budgets directly hurts platforms like Pinterest during the crucial holiday season.
Management has also acknowledged that large U.S. retailers are under margin pressure, which has led to broader caution in ad spending. [12]
2. Lower ad pricing in faster‑growing regions
Pinterest’s user growth is strongest outside North America. That’s good for scale, but:
- International ad prices are lower, and Gotrade reports a 24% decline in overall ad pricing, largely due to the mix shift toward these markets. [13]
- Analysts quoted by Reuters warn that the big challenge is proving that new international users can be monetized anywhere near the rate of North American users — and that this will “realistically take time.” [14]
The upshot: Pinterest is winning on users and engagement, but its average revenue per user (ARPU), especially outside North America, is still catching up. That gap is central to the current tug‑of‑war over the stock.
Financial health: high margins and a fortress balance sheet
Despite the volatility in the share price, Pinterest’s income statement and balance sheet look unusually strong for a social‑media‑style business.
A recent GuruFocus analysis of PINS highlights several metrics: [15]
- Profitability
- Net margin: around 49%.
- Gross margin: roughly 80%.
- Balance sheet
- Current ratio: about 8.4, indicating very strong short‑term liquidity.
- Debt‑to‑equity ratio: near 0.04, implying minimal leverage.
- Valuation multiples (approximate)
- P/E ratio: ~9x, close to its 5‑year low.
- P/S ratio: about 4.5x, near 10‑year lows.
- P/B ratio: ~3.8x, also near multi‑year lows.
MarketBeat’s institutional-ownership roundup adds that the stock’s PEG ratio (price/earnings to growth) is around 1.7, with a beta below 1, suggesting somewhat lower volatility than the broader market despite recent swings. [16]
Caveat: GuruFocus also flags a Beneish M‑Score of ~1.5, which is a statistical measure sometimes used to screen for potential earnings manipulation. That doesn’t mean Pinterest is doing anything wrong; it’s simply a quantitative warning that investors often treat as a signal to read the financials carefully instead of blindly trusting headline margins. [17]
Overall, Pinterest looks:
- Highly profitable at scale.
- Cash‑rich and low‑debt, which gives management a lot of flexibility.
- Valued below where many investors would expect for a high‑margin digital ad business — if growth proves durable.
Wall Street’s view: consensus “Buy” with high‑30s price targets
Across major brokers and data platforms, the message from analysts is surprisingly consistent: Pinterest is a Buy with meaningful upside, despite mixed near‑term sentiment.
Analyst ratings and price targets
Different aggregators show slightly different numbers, but they cluster tightly:
- MarketBeat:
- Average price target: about $39.10.
- Range:$30 to $50.
- Consensus rating: “Moderate Buy” based on ~33 analysts. [18]
- StockAnalysis.com:
- Average target: about $39.
- 29 analysts, consensus rating: “Buy.” [19]
- TipRanks & Public.com:
- Average target: roughly $39–39.35, with “Strong Buy” consensus and no recent Sell ratings. [20]
- GrowthInvesting.net and similar sites:
- Show a median/average target around $36, with about 35–40% upside from current levels. [21]
Given today’s price near $26.75, these targets generally imply ~35–47% upside over the next 12 months if the analysts are right.
Revenue and EPS growth expectations
StockAnalysis’ forecast summary sheds more light on the fundamental expectations baked into those targets: [22]
- Revenue
- 2025: about $4.3 billion (up ~18% from 2024).
- 2026: about $5.0 billion (up ~15.5% from 2025).
- EPS (often non‑GAAP in forecasts)
- 2025: around $1.74.
- 2026: around $2.00, implying mid‑teens EPS growth.
The consensus narrative here is:
- Pinterest remains a double‑digit growth story in both revenue and earnings.
- Margins are expected to remain strong, with incremental upside if AI‑driven commerce features translate into higher ARPU.
- The recent rerating of the stock is seen as more about sentiment and execution risk than a broken growth model.
That said, not all models agree.
Valuation models: fundamental upside vs. bearish technicals
Two very different schools of analysis are looking at PINS and coming to opposite near‑term conclusions.
1. DCF & fair value models: “undervalued by 40–45%”
Simply Wall St’s discounted cash flow (DCF) work on Pinterest shows: [23]
- A fair‑value estimate around $37–38 per share, implying ~40–47% upside from today’s price.
- Their narrative assumes:
- Revenue rising toward $5.9 billion by 2028, which would require roughly 14–15% annual growth.
- Earnings of around $1 billion by 2028.
- One of their December updates notes that PINS trades at a ~47% discount to that DCF‑derived fair value.
In other words, if Pinterest hits those growth and profitability assumptions, today’s price looks cheap on a long‑term cash‑flow basis.
2. Technical & trend models: “short‑term Sell candidate”
By contrast, the technical analysis platform StockInvest.us recently downgraded Pinterest to a Sell candidate: [24]
- The stock closed at $26.75 on December 5 after falling 1.76% that day.
- It has risen in 7 of the last 10 sessions but still sits in the middle of a wide, falling short‑term trend.
- Their model projects:
- A possible 27% decline over the next three months, with a 90% probability range between $16.99 and $21.97 if the current trend holds.
- On the positive side:
- There is a short‑term buy signal from a recent pivot bottom and the 3‑month MACD, but the long‑term moving averages still flash a general sell signal.
StockInvest even gives a very specific intraday expectation for today (December 8, 2025):
- Predicted fair opening price: ~$26.86.
- Expected intraday range: roughly $26.24–$27.26, about ±3.9% from the prior close. [25]
These models are, of course, purely quantitative and should be treated as one input among many, not a crystal ball. But they underscore that short‑term traders are looking at a very different risk/reward profile than long‑term fundamental investors.
Institutional flows and insider signals
Another layer to the story is who owns the stock and what they’re doing.
Institutional investors
A MarketBeat review of recent SEC filings notes that: [26]
- 1832 Asset Management L.P. opened a new position in Pinterest, buying about 57,000 shares (~$2.05 million).
- Several other asset managers, including CW Advisors and Mackenzie Financial, have added positions.
- Overall, institutional investors own roughly 85–89% of Pinterest shares, depending on the dataset.
High institutional ownership can cut both ways:
- It signals that professional investors take the company seriously.
- It can also amplify volatility, since large funds may respond aggressively to earnings surprises or macro shocks.
Insider activity
The same MarketBeat piece and GuruFocus’ data highlight that: [27]
- Insiders have sold around 400,000 shares over the last 90 days, worth roughly $13–14 million.
- Insider ownership now sits around 1–7% of shares, depending on the classification.
Insider selling isn’t automatically a red flag – executives sell for many reasons (diversification, taxes, personal liquidity). But persistent selling during a drawdown tends to make investors more cautious, especially when paired with soft near‑term guidance.
What’s next for Pinterest stock?
Several key catalysts and risks loom over Pinterest as 2025 winds down and 2026 approaches:
- S&P MidCap 400 inclusion (Dec 22, 2025)
- Likely to drive incremental passive inflows and trading interest.
- Can produce short‑term buying pressure followed by digesting or mean reversion once rebalancing flows settle. [28]
- Q4 2025 earnings (expected Feb 5, 2026)
- The company guided to Q4 revenue of about $1.31–1.34 billion, implying 14–16% growth but slightly below consensus when issued. [29]
- The market will be watching:
- Whether AI‑driven commerce features show up in stronger ARPU.
- How much tariffs and ad competition continue to weigh on guidance.
- Macro backdrop
- Broader markets are currently buoyed by expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates, which generally supports high‑growth, high‑multiple names like social media and ad tech. [30]
- Any negative surprise on rates or a downturn in digital ad spending could disproportionately affect Pinterest.
Bottom line: is Pinterest stock (PINS) a buy after the December reset?
Putting it all together:
Bullish arguments
- Record scale and engagement
- 600 million MAUs, with Gen Z as the largest cohort, and rapidly growing query volume on the platform. [31]
- Clear strategic direction
- A credible shift from “mood board” to AI‑driven visual shopping assistant, backed by product innovations and deeper commerce integrations. [32]
- Strong financials
- High gross and net margins, strong cash position, and low leverage, offering resilience and flexibility. [33]
- Valuation & Wall Street sentiment
Bearish arguments
- Near‑term ad headwinds
- Tariffs and macro pressure are hurting retailer and cross‑border e‑commerce ad budgets at exactly the moment Pinterest is trying to accelerate monetization. [36]
- International monetization gap
- User growth is skewed toward lower‑priced ad markets, pulling down average ad pricing and raising questions about long‑run ARPU. [37]
- Market psychology & technicals
- Short‑term trend and technical analysis models see PINS as a Sell candidate, with a meaningful probability of a deeper slide into the low‑20s if current trends persist. [38]
- Insider selling
- Recent insider share sales make some investors cautious at a time when the narrative is already fragile. [39]
In practical terms:
- Long‑term, fundamentals‑driven investors who believe in Pinterest’s AI‑commerce strategy and its ability to close the monetization gap may see today’s price – especially after the post‑earnings reset – as an opportunity, particularly given the strong balance sheet and supportive analyst forecasts.
- Short‑term traders and more risk‑averse investors might focus instead on the downtrend, ad‑market uncertainty, and the possibility that guidance could disappoint again in early 2026.
Whichever camp you lean toward, Pinterest is now a high‑beta, high‑optionality mid‑cap: the combination of S&P MidCap 400 inclusion, AI‑driven product shifts and macro uncertainty virtually guarantees volatility.
References
1. stockinvest.us, 2. seekingalpha.com, 3. www.gurufocus.com, 4. www.wsj.com, 5. stockinvest.us, 6. s204.q4cdn.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.heygotrade.com, 10. www.heygotrade.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.heygotrade.com, 13. www.heygotrade.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.gurufocus.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. www.gurufocus.com, 18. www.marketbeat.com, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. www.tipranks.com, 21. growthinvesting.net, 22. stockanalysis.com, 23. simplywall.st, 24. stockinvest.us, 25. stockinvest.us, 26. www.marketbeat.com, 27. www.marketbeat.com, 28. seekingalpha.com, 29. www.heygotrade.com, 30. www.bloomberg.com, 31. www.heygotrade.com, 32. www.heygotrade.com, 33. s204.q4cdn.com, 34. stockanalysis.com, 35. simplywall.st, 36. www.reuters.com, 37. www.heygotrade.com, 38. stockinvest.us, 39. www.marketbeat.com
