Pinterest (PINS) shares slid Monday after analysts at Jefferies downgraded the social media company over advertising revenue concerns.
The firm dropped its rating for Pinterest to “hold” from “buy” and its price target to $32 from $40. The consensus price target from analysts tracked by Visible Alpha is roughly $39. Shares of Pinterest fell more than 1% in recent trading, and are down roughly 18% over the past 12 months.
Pinterest is “struggling to move beyond experimental” advertiser spending into “always on” ad buys, Jefferies said. It’s also likely “too early” for Pinterest’s new Performance+ artificial intelligence advertiser tools to generate the mid-teens revenue growth called for by Wall Street in the first quarter, analysts added.
Jefferies projects 10% growth, compared to the consensus of 13% from Visible Alpha.
Pinterest CEOBill Ready said the company’s “AI investments are driving results,” with lower-funnel ad tools like direct links being the fastest-growing piece …