The news: Pinterest delivered steady Q1 2026 results, underscoring progress in its efforts to strengthen ad performance and deepen engagement through AI-powered discovery.

By the numbers:

• Revenues: $1 billion, +18% YoY
• Global MAUs: 631 million, +11% YoY, an all-time high
• Global ARPU: $1.61, +6% YoY
• Earnings per share: 27 cents

Zooming in: Q1 momentum sets the stage for Pinterest’s next challenge: Proving it can drive measurable purchase activity and inform targeting across media channels.

We forecast that Pinterest will reach a 10% share of digital buyers in 2027 as the social commerce platform doubles down on efforts to show that it goes beyond discovery to driving actual purchases.

• The past year has seen Pinterest launch collaborations with major companies as it looks to prove its influence in shopping habits. A shoppable recipe pilot with Walmart builds on that push by letting users move directly from meal inspiration to checkout, giving CPG advertisers the ability to close the loop between inspiration and purchase.
• Another deal with Instacart has helped Pinterest legitimize its image as a shopping destination by giving advertisers access to purchase-based targeting; the move aims to introduce closed-loop measurement that ties inspiration on Pinterest to sales on Instacart’s marketplace.
• Growth is partially attributable to continued product investments; genAI capabilities like auto-collages and Performance+ help advertisers scale output and are boosting engagement.

Looking ahead: Future growth will likely be driven by a combination of emerging AI capabilities and Pinterest’s expansion into new markets.

• Pinterest continues to lean into AI-powered tools to attract advertiser investment. New offerings like Promote a Pin let brands quickly turn existing Pins into promoted posts, with AI-driven campaign recommendations and tools to help connect advertisers to target audiences.
• A now-completed acquisition of performance TV ad company tvScientific is pushing the platform into the CTV ecosystem. Marketers can now use Pinterest’s intent data to connect with CTV viewers, supported by tvScientific’s AI-driven optimization. The move aims to position Pinterest as a unified search, social, and TV performance channel that offers intent-driven ad capabilities across screens.