Pinterest closes down 9% on Guggenheim downgrade
- Shares of Pinterest fell Tuesday after Guggenheim downgraded the stock.
- Guggenheim said the company's aggregate global audience dipped to 218.1 million at year-end, compared to 226.9 million on Nov. 30.
- The firm also cited data from Apptopia, a third party research concern, which showed a decline in average daily downloads through Dec. 15.
Shares of Pinterest closed down 9% Tuesday after Guggenheim downgraded the stock from buy to neutral, citing user declines. It also lowered the price target from $46 to $39.
The stock had dropped as much as 10.96% in the day, hitting a new 52-week low.
Based on data from Pinterest Ads Manager, Guggenheim said the company's aggregate global audience dipped to 218.1 million at year-end, compared to 226.9 million on Nov. 30.
"This reflects the second consecutive sequential decline, though decreasing off the largest total audience reach of 2021 in October (229.3 million)," the firm said in the Tuesday note.
The company also cited data from Apptopia, a third party research firm, which indicated a decline in average daily downloads through Dec. 15. It would mark the fourth month of consecutive declines, Guggenheim said.
The firm now expects Pinterest to report 438 million monthly active users for the fourth quarter, down from an expectation of 447 million users.
"We still see value creation potential for the company's large global user base and high-purchase-intent user behavior," the firm said. "However, we don't see the platform's use case as developing as rapidly as peers, creating risk that competitors improve their social commerce offerings more quickly than Pinterest capitalizes on its position. Without user growth, we see risk of further valuation multiple contraction."
Pinterest underperformed compared to its social media peers in 2021, with the stock off nearly 45%. The company had started the year off strong as people turned to the social media player during the Covid-19 pandemic, but user interest appeared to wane as the economy reopened. The company's market cap was around $21 billion as of Tuesday.