Pinterest has kicked off 2026 on a strong note, reporting 631 million monthly active users for the first quarter — a gain of 12 million from the previous quarter and a notable jump from 570 million in Q1 2025. Revenue grew 18% year-over-year, surpassing $1 billion for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.
CEO Bill Ready credited the platform’s artificial intelligence capabilities for driving consistent engagement. The company’s proprietary Taste Graph, built on hundreds of billions of user interactions, powers its visual discovery experience and has contributed to ten consecutive quarters of double-digit user growth.
Global Growth, But Monetization Gaps Remain
The majority of new users came from the “Rest of World” category, with only around one million users added each in the U.S. and EU. While this global expansion reflects the platform’s broadening appeal, it presents a monetization challenge — Pinterest earns significantly more revenue per user in Western markets than in developing regions.
CFO Julia Donnelly acknowledged this gap directly, noting that Pinterest remains “significantly under-monetized internationally” relative to the engagement and commercial intent seen on the platform. To address this, the company announced plans to appoint a new head of international growth.
AI-Powered Ads Show Promising Returns
On the advertising front, ad impressions surged 24% in Q1, though ad pricing dipped 5% year-over-year. Pinterest’s AI-driven Performance+ ad product showed encouraging results, with advertisers reporting higher return on ad spend and improvements in cost-per-action and cost-per-click metrics.
With its AI infrastructure maturing and international revenue strategies taking shape, Pinterest appears well-positioned to convert its growing global user base into a more balanced and robust revenue stream in the quarters ahead.