By Sam Boughedda
Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) shares dipped early Thursday following contrasting notes from analysts at Evercore ISI and Piper Sandler.
Evercore ISI added the stock to its Tactical Underperform list. Meanwhile, Piper Sandler maintained an Overweight rating on the stock, stating it is a top idea in 2023, but added there is a high bar for its upcoming results.
Pinterest shares are down more than 3% at the time of writing, retracing the majority of Wednesday's gains.
Evercore analysts told investors in a note on internet stocks that its "TAP Underperform on PINS is based on near-term concerns related to the Street's assumption of revenue growth acceleration in Q1 (in an arguably softening ad environment with consolidation of budgets to larger platforms) and on what could be overly aggressive opex growth assumptions for FY23."
"We'd also point out that PINS has moved materially off its trough valuation floor levels, while the two other names at the riskiest end of our Q4 fundamentals spectrum (AMZN & GOOGL) still remain at their trough multiples," they added.
Elsewhere, Piper Sandler analysts said the firm forecasts fourth-quarter revenue for Pinterest "1% above Street & EBITDA ~3% better."
"User trends are positive and PSC's Ads Manager analysis points to ~95.5MM UCAN MAUs (in-line) & upside to EU MAUs. Checks are positive and suggest (1) CEO Ready is listening to the advertising community and (2) an improving mobile product. We like PINS for 4Q22 earnings and '23 and remain OW, but note the stock is already up 10%+ YTD which suggests a high bar for results."