4 Takeaways On Pinterest's Q2 Print

Social shopping trends remain as the primary tailwind that will drive outperformance for Pinterest Inc PINS, according to Morgan Stanley.

The Pinterest Analyst: Brian Nowak reiterated an Equal-Weight rating on Pinterest and raised the price target from $26 to $34.

The Pinterest Takeaways: The Pinterest analyst named these takeaways from Friday's second-quarter report: 

• Pinterest’s ad business performed better than expected in the second quarter, with total revenue up 4% year-over-year. 
• Upward trends in e-commerce demand have led to “materially stronger performance-based ad spending,” the analyst said. 
• Second-quarter results benefited from micro improvement drivers: agency offerings, improved self-serve tools, automatic bidding offerings, and catalog uploads. “This multitude of improvements should help PINS continue to scale through the back half and into ’21 through multiple macro and COVID environment scenarios,” he said. 
• Positive changes in the engagement and behavior of PIN users.

Morgan Stanley upwardly revised its monthly active user expectations for Pinterest in 2020 and 2021 by 8% and 12%, respectively.

PINS Price Action: Pinterest shares were up 5.12% at $36.04 at last check Monday. 

Photo courtesy of Pinterest.