Pinterest, Inc. (PINS): A Bull Case Theory
We came across a bullish thesis on Pinterest, Inc. on Accrued Interest's Substack by Simeon McMillan. In this article, we will summarize the bulls' thesis on PINS. Pinterest, Inc.'s share was trading at $34.00 as of June 23rd. PINS's trailing and forward P/E were 12.50 and 19.01 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.
Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash
Pinterest (PINS) is gaining attention as a potential standout in the social media space, offering compelling upside despite investor skepticism. While its revenue of $3.7 billion in 2024 is smaller than expected, Pinterest's niche positioning and unique user base provide an avenue for advertisers seeking alternatives to Meta and Google.
Analysts project ~15% annual revenue growth, though there are questions around the platform's ability to scale meaningfully beyond its current user ceiling. Pinterest reported $1 billion in EBITDA at a 28% margin in 2024, and analysts forecast moderate expansion to 33% by 2027. The stock's standout trait is its robust free cash flow profile—$1.2 billion is projected for 2025, reflecting over 90% conversion of EBITDA to FCF, a key metric for long-term compounding.
Valuation appears attractive, with Pinterest trading at 16x 2026E EPS and just 13x 2027E, despite a net-cash balance sheet. On an EV/FCF basis, the multiple is even lower—14x and under 12x for 2026 and 2027, respectively, suggesting discounted investor expectations. The prevailing market view seems to be that Pinterest has carved out a viable niche but lacks the product strength to materially gain share in the competitive ad tech space.
Yet if Pinterest meets its estimates and trades at a reasonable 19x multiple in 2027, the stock could reach $49, offering ~44% upside. The case hinges on its ability to deliver 15%+ revenue growth and 30%+ EBITDA margins, which would validate its position as a high-quality compounder overlooked by the market.
Previously, we covered a on Pinterest, Inc. by Dan in September 2024, which highlighted Gen Z-led user growth, its Amazon partnership, and intent-driven ad monetization. The company's stock price has appreciated by approximately 11.6% since our coverage. The thesis still stands as fundamentals remain strong. Simeon McMillan shares a similar view but emphasizes Pinterest's free cash flow strength and valuation discount.
Pinterest, Inc. is not on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 86 hedge fund portfolios held PINS at the end of the first quarter, which was 73 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of PINS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.
Disclosure: None.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Forbes
36 minutes ago
- Forbes
How AI Enables Marketers To Target Digital-Savvy Gen Z Customers
Wolfgang Sixl, VP Strategy, Analytics & Client Solutions, MCE Systems - Bridging Technology and Commercialization. How can we understand the mindset of Gen Z consumers? We can ask Freddie Mercury. He seemed to anticipate their desire for immediate gratification when he wrote the song 'I Want It All.' Then, he nailed their longing for personalization with the song 'I Want To Break Free.' Obviously, the members of Queen were not thinking about the brand experiences of young digital consumers when they were penning lyrics 40 years ago. Nevertheless, these titles are uncannily relevant. Today's digital-savvy consumers are seeking not only customization, but also expediency. The data confirms it. According to a Salesforce consumer trend report, 81% of customers expect faster service as technology advances, and 73% expect better personalization. In response, companies are jockeying for a better position. They are exploring new technologies that grab attention and improve loyalty—and help them meet customers' demands. AI Makes It Personal This isn't a new trend. Marketers already use tools like programmatic digital ads to deliver custom promos, targeting users based on past brand interactions or shopping behavior. Now, AI tools are pushing this further. But mass customization marketing has had limited success, falling short of the true hyper-personalization consumers expect. Two years ago, it looked promising. ChatGPT dazzled with its capabilities, and 98% of companies felt a newfound urgency to adopt AI. Yet success remains elusive. While generating blogs, emails and ad copy is easy, creating personalized user journeys that drive real business results is another challenge entirely How can they change this? I think there are three key barriers to overcome: • Data Relevancy And Accuracy: In the marketing context, we want to prompt the customer to take an action. Here, AI engines can help. They can craft relevant offers calibrated to a user's specific tastes—but only if they are fed relevant and accurate enterprise-specific data. So, organizations must make sure the AI model has enough context to deliver the appropriate output. • Data Timeliness: Relevant data is only half the story. Data must be up to date too. Real-time user and market information is vital for personalization. Without it, we can imagine a scenario where an AI model advertises outdated offers or—worse—sends irrelevant promotions to customers who have already converted. • Execution: AI tools are new and unfamiliar to many organizations. It's very easy to implement a dysfunctional AI program. Common challenges in this space include aligning the tech to business objectives, overcoming staff resistance to change and ensuring the right people are leading the AI project. A Program To Prepare For Change To overcome the above challenges, stakeholders within a business must align. They must build guardrails that overcome model limitations, leverage enterprise-specific customer data and build an AI-native culture. Large enterprises should start by collecting enterprise data (which includes real-time and metadata) from their digital customer points of interaction. They can couple this with a basic LLM model to create a 'sandboxed' enterprise-grade AI application. The output of the resulting AI application will combine the customer's preference with live market data. Second, businesses must make sure their AI application is safe and focused—and avoids undesired outputs. They should prevent any exposure to malicious actors and make sure they follow all regulatory compliance to avoid violations and legal risks. Lastly, enterprises must unite all staff behind the new processes. This starts with senior leaders establishing a cohesive business-technology plan, and assembling the right team to manage the changes. The last point is vital. Workers across all industries are understandably anxious about AI. Nearly 60% of business leaders said in a survey this alarm was driven by a lack of knowledge. So organizations must foster a culture of openness to defuse employee concerns. A Success Story: Mobile Device Care For Mobile Carriers Even at this formative stage for AI, thousands of large enterprises are already seeing results. Javier Meza, Coca Cola's Europe CMO, shared last year how his company is using first-party data and AI to shift from a broad targeting style to a more consumer-centric approach. Mobile carriers are well-placed to follow this example. These businesses possess huge amounts of relevant real-time first-party data. Clearly, the raw materials are there to deliver personalized services that can drive loyalty, prevent churn and grow ARPU. Some carriers are already experimenting. Take the market for device care and upgrades, for example. Industry data that we see at my company shows that customers want intelligent, personalized offers when they encounter an issue with their device—such as a value added service (VAS) or a trade-in. But for years, this has been a clunky, manual process that has not served customers well. At MCE, we saw an opportunity to make device care digital and self-serve. First, we built a GenAI solution for chatbots in a mobile operator app. Then we connected it to an enterprise-grade application that sources live device data such as diagnostics, device configuration information and user conversational inputs. The final part was tapping into a carrier's existing marketing database, so we partnered with a third party to build out a chatbot for them. With this real-world application, we were able to reduce mobile app utility inertia, increase marketing promo actioning and drive more retail visit intent. When we applied GenAI to this solution, we noticed quite an uptick in engagement afterward—quadruple engagement with our pilot's custom journey, triple marketing promo engagement and nearly double the retail store locator opens. Conclusion AI is game-changing technology. It gives marketers the chance to deliver on the dream of genuine mass personalization. The examples are already out there. So, now is the time to get ahead of the game, embrace the tech, build a unified internal culture and give customers the products and services they deserve. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?


Business Wire
40 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Merck to Hold Second-Quarter 2025 Sales and Earnings Conference Call July 29
RAHWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, will hold its second-quarter 2025 sales and earnings conference call with institutional investors and analysts at 9:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, July 29. During the call, company executives will provide an overview of Merck's performance for the quarter. Investors, journalists and the general public may access a live audio webcast of the call via this weblink. A replay of the webcast, along with the sales and earnings news release, supplemental financial disclosures and slides highlighting the results, will be available at All participants may join the call by dialing (800) 369-3351 (U.S. and Canada Toll-Free) or (517) 308-9448 and using the access code 9818590. About Merck At Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit and connect with us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (the 'company') includes 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company's patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC's Internet site (


Business Wire
an hour ago
- Business Wire
Hercules Capital Receives Affirmed BBB- Investment Grade Corporate and Unsecured Credit Rating from Fitch Ratings, Inc.
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) ('Hercules' or the 'Company'), the largest and leading specialty financing provider to innovative venture, growth and established stage companies backed by some of the leading and top-tier venture capital and select private equity firms, today announced that Fitch Ratings, Inc. ('Fitch') has affirmed Hercules' investment grade corporate and unsecured credit rating of BBB- with a stable outlook, as well as its underlying analysis. 'We are very pleased that Fitch has affirmed our BBB- investment grade corporate and unsecured credit rating,' stated Seth Meyer, chief financial officer of Hercules. 'This rating reflects the scale of our institutionalized lending platform and the quality and proven track record of operational excellence that our differentiated and diversified venture and growth stage lending business model has delivered year after year.' The affirmed BBB- rating reflects the Company's first-lien focus of the investment portfolio, solid track record in credit, broad industry relationships, consistent operating performance, strong funding flexibility with demonstrated access to the public debt and equity markets, above-average asset coverage cushion and experienced management team. About Hercules Capital, Inc. Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) is the leading and largest specialty finance company focused on providing senior secured venture growth loans to high-growth, innovative venture capital-backed companies in a broad variety of technology and life sciences industries. Since inception (December 2003), Hercules has committed more than $22 billion to over 680 companies and is the lender of choice for entrepreneurs and venture capital firms seeking growth capital financing. Companies interested in learning more about financing opportunities should contact info@ or call (650) 289-3060. Hercules, through its wholly owned subsidiary business, Hercules Adviser LLC (the 'Adviser Subsidiary'), also maintains an asset management business through which it manages investments for external parties ('Adviser Funds'). The Adviser Subsidiary is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Hercules' common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol 'HTGC.' In addition, Hercules has one retail bond issuance of 6.25% Notes due 2033 (NYSE: HCXY). Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We may use words such as 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'will,' 'should,' 'may' and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be relied upon in making any investment decision. Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations. While we cannot identify all such risks and uncertainties, we urge you to read the risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and other materials that we publicly file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements made in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Hercules assumes no obligation to update any such statements in the future.