Deutsche Bank raised its rating on Pinterest shares to buy from hold on Friday, citing the company's rapidly scaling ad business and the potential for "significant upside" to estimates and the stock. Shares of Pinterest surged 18% after the upgrade.
"Pinterest is executing across more vectors of growth than just about any company in our coverage," Deutsche Bank analyst Lloyd Walmsley wrote in a note to investors.
The upgrade follows Pinterest's better-than-expected second-quarter earnings results on Thursday. The company beat analysts' expectations on revenue and reported a sharp increase in monthly active users. The company also raised its revenue guidance for 2019.
Walmsley expects Pinterest's ad business to grow in the U.S. and internationally "faster than expected." The company is diversifying its ad network into areas like autos and entertainment, attracting more small businesses and growing spend per advertiser.
Pinterest is also introducing more videos to its platform, in a move that's likely to benefit both users and advertisers.
"This mix shift alone could drive a 44% lift in revenue, and we think of this as only one of many growth drivers for Pinterest," Walmsley said.
Outside of ads, Walmsley pointed to Pinterest's solid user growth and its move into six new user markets during the second quarter as other bright spots in the company's second-quarter results.
The analyst raised his price target to $40 from $26 for Pinterest shares and hiked revenue estimates for 2019 and 2020 by 6% and 11%, respectively. It was trading at $33.80 Friday afternoon.
