• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 31, 2020

It seems consumers are ready, once again, to explore ideas on Pinterest.

The visual search engine, which withdrew its full-year outlook in April, now expects current-quarter revenue to grow in the mid-30% range compared with a year earlier. Its forecast for year-over-year revenue growth in July now sits at about 50% through July 29.

Pinterest reported Friday during earnings that in  2020 the company hit a milestone — 416 million monthly users or pinners, as they are called, come to the site.

“By all accounts, this was a challenging quarter as COVID-19 continued to spread,” stated Todd Morgenfeld, CFO and head of business operations at Pinterest. “I’m pleased with the way we responded and remained engaged with our advertising partners.”

• Q2 2020 revenue grew 4% year-over-year to $272 million.
• GAAP net loss was $(101) million for Q2. Adjusted EBITDA was $(34) million.
• Total revenue rose 4% to $272 million, beating analysts' average estimate of $251.2 million.

Colin Sabastian, senior research analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., wrote in a research note published today that management indicated searches rose 50% and board creation was up 40% year-on-year, with revenue up about 50% through July 29 -- suggesting incremental strength in both user activity and ad spend.

“We expect some of the advertising momentum may be due to volatility or disruption on social media platforms, but it's also clear the company's product enhancements are resonating with users and advertisers (e.g., shopping/e-commerce functionality),” Sebastian wrote. “We note the company cited the partnership with Shopify as driving a significant uptick in merchant growth.”

When Shopify reported earnings this week, Amy Shapero, CFO at Shopify, said revenue nearly doubled in its second quarter to $714.3 million, up 97% over the same period last year. She attributed largely to the acceleration of Merchant Solutions revenue, and to a lesser extent Subscription Solutions revenue that last year rose 28% YoY to $196.4 million.