NEW YORK, March 12, 2026, 19:05 EDT
Pinterest (PINS) dropped 6.6% to $18.09 Thursday, as Wall Street tumbled following a near-$100 move in crude. “It’s a sell first, ask questions later type of mentality,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, speaking to Reuters. Reuters
Pinterest’s move lands at a critical moment—the company’s still working to recover after that shaky February outlook. Back on Feb. 18, it bumped up its first-quarter revenue guidance to a range of $958 million to $978 million, reflecting the tvScientific connected-TV ad deal. That update, though, arrived less than a week after its earlier forecast and didn’t quite put questions about retailer ad demand to rest.
Pinterest announced earlier this month that Elliott Investment Management is committing $1 billion toward a fresh $3.5 billion buyback. That injection, as Reuters reported, would push Elliott into the top spot among Pinterest shareholders. The company pitched the move as a strong endorsement following the stock’s sharp slide in February.
Pinterest said it’s planning around $2 billion in total share repurchases for the first half of 2026, with $1 billion coming through an accelerated buyback—aimed at pulling shares from the market fast. Chief Executive Bill Ready called the current share price a poor reflection of the company’s strength, saying the board sees the stock as undervalued.
But it’s not just straight cash on the table. Elliott’s funding, according to a March 5 filing, landed as 1.75% convertible senior notes—essentially debt with the option to flip into shares—set to mature in 2031. The kicker: an initial conversion price pegged at roughly $22.72 per share.
Ad-driven stocks took a hit too. Snap slid around 4.3%, while Meta Platforms dropped close to 2.6% on Thursday.
Pinterest’s headaches aren’t over. Lenny Zephirin, who runs Zephirin Group, told Reuters the company remains “constrained by legacy monetization models,” and warned that pushing into shopping might not be enough as rivals step up. Reuters
The key worry: retailers might keep their purse strings tight longer than Wall Street figures. Back in February, Chief Financial Officer Julia Donnelly flagged that big retail names were already “pulling back on advertising spend” to shore up margins. That leaves Pinterest in a tough spot if the ad slowdown doesn’t let up. Reuters
