Pinterest, Inc. Q2 FY2025 earnings call

• User Growth: Ended Q2 with 578 million MAUs, a 11% y-o-y increase, with Gen Z accounting for over 50% of MAUs. Global user growth across geographies and generations.
• Revenue Strength: Q2 revenue $998 million, up 17% y-o-y, with strength in retail, financial services, and international regions.
• AI Integration: Leveraging AI for personalized content, including visual search with a proprietary multimodal AI model, generative retrieval models, and improvements in ad relevance. AI is deeply integrated across product facets.
• Partnerships: Instacart partnership for shoppable ads in food and beverage, and advancements in Pinterest Performance+ for advertisers, including creative previews and campaign customer groups.
• Positivity and Belonging: Core ethos maintained, with inclusive AI tools and brand safety measures, such as private buy default settings for users under 18.

Pinterest ended the second quarter with 578 million MAUs, a 11% year-over-year increase. Global revenue for Q2 was $998 million, up 17% year-over-year. Geographically, U.S. and Canada generated $745 million in revenue (11% growth), Europe had $191 million (34% growth reported), and Rest of World had $63 million (65% growth reported). Ad impressions grew 55% in Q2, but ad pricing declined 25% year-over-year. Cost of revenue was $197 million, up 10% year-over-year, and non-GAAP operating expense was $555 million, up 14%. Adjusted EBITDA was $251 million, with a margin of 25%.

• Q3 revenue expected to be in the range of $1,033 billion to $1,053 billion (15%-17% growth y-o-y).
• Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 expected to be between $282 million to $302 million.
• Continued investment in R&D and enterprise sales, with adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in H2 2025 but at a lower level than H1 2025.

No specific detailed risks discussed in the transcript beyond general forward-looking statement disclaimers about assumptions, risks, and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements.

Q: Ronald Victor Josey asked about Gen Z usage trends and direct traffic.

A: Bill Ready discussed Gen Z making up over 50% of MAUs, visual search appeal to Gen Z, and global relevance of the platform.

Q: Eric James Sheridan asked about macro environment impact on digital ads.

A: Julia Donnelly talked about Q2 strength in retail and financial services, international growth, and Q3 outlook considering market uncertainty.

Q: Douglas Till Anmuth asked about Performance+ adoption.

A: Bill Ready discussed early adoption of Performance+, mid-market traction, and feature rollouts like ROAS bidding and campaign customer groups.

Q: Justin Patterson asked about AI investments in the search funnel.

A: Bill Ready talked about AI as core to the platform, unique curation signal, and user-centric AI approach for personalized content.

Q: Mark Elliott Shmulik asked about international business and visual search volume.

A: Julia Donnelly discussed international monetization gap and growth, while Bill Ready talked about visual search as intent-driven and its global relevance.

Q: Ross Adam Sandler asked about margin improvement and Instacart partnership.

A: Julia Donnelly talked about margin investment areas in R&D and sales, and Bill Ready discussed Instacart partnership for shoppable ads in food and beverage.

Q: Brian Thomas Nowak asked about forward advertising growth.

A: Bill Ready discussed compounding gains from AI, Performance+ impact, and international growth as levers for revenue growth.

Q: Justin Post asked about audience expansion and durability.

A: Bill Ready talked about broadening audience across genders and generations, and Julia Donnelly discussed advertiser partnership and mid-market adoption.

Q: Colin Alan Sebastian asked about visual search impact and MAU seasonality.

A: Bill Ready talked about visual search's unique curation signal, and Julia Donnelly discussed MAU growth and seasonality in regions like Europe.

Q: John Ryan Blackledge asked about AI talent competition.

A: Bill Ready talked about competing for AI talent with money, mission, and unique sandbox provided by Pinterest's large user base and unique visual journey.