Pinterest’s user growth slows as pandemic curbs ease

A slowdown in Pinterest’s user growth tarnished an otherwise strong quarterly report card, sending shares down about 10% aftermarket even though the company forecast current-quarter revenue above estimates.

With pandemic restrictions easing across the world, people are dialing down time spent on social media, but a boom in ad spending by companies helped soften the hit from tepid user growth.

Pinterest’s monthly active users (MAU), a widely watched metric, grew only 30% to 478 million in the first quarter. That was in contrast to last quarter’s 37% jump on a year-over-year basis.

“Starting in mid-March, the easing of pandemic restrictions slowed U.S. MAU growth and lowered engagement year-over-year as people spent less time online,” Pinterest said.