Pinterest Stock Tanks After CEO Blames Tariffs for Weak Results

Pinterest shares plummeted more than 20% on Friday, February 13, 2026, after the social media company reported a fourth-quarter earnings miss and issued a disappointing outlook for the current period. CEO Bill Ready told analysts the company had “absorbed an exogenous shock this year related to tariffs” that directly hurt spending from its largest retail advertisers. The selloff marks the second consecutive quarter in which Pinterest has shed roughly a fifth of its market value following weak results, with the stock touching its lowest level since April 2020.

Tariff “Shock” Hits Retail Ad Spending in Q4

Pinterest reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.32 billion, just shy of the $1.33 billion analysts had expected, while adjusted earnings per share came in at 67 cents versus the 69 cents consensus. Net income for the period was $277 million, down sharply from $1.85 billion a year earlier, though that prior-year figure had been inflated by a significant deferred tax benefit.

Fourth-quarter sales rose 14% year-over-year, but the growth rate failed to satisfy investors given the company’s heavy dependence on retail advertising budgets.

CFO Julia Donnelly said the impact of tariffs on large retailers “created a more meaningful headwind than we expected,” with those advertisers also pulling back on spending in Europe. Looking ahead to Q1 2026, management guided revenue of $951 million to $971 million, trailing the analyst consensus of $980 million, and warned that headwinds could become “slightly more pronounced” in the UK and Europe.

To reduce its reliance on large retailers, the company said it plans to more aggressively court small-to-medium-sized and international advertisers. The disappointing results also coincide with significant internal disruption following January layoffs of under 15% of its workforce, which Donnelly acknowledged may cause “some near-term disruption” to performance.

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PINS Stock Brief: Shares Slide to Multi-Year Lows

As of 10:22 AM EST on February 13, 2026, PINS was trading at $14.67, down approximately 20.87% on the session, having touched an intraday low of $13.84, a level not seen since April 2020. The selloff pushed Pinterest’s market capitalization to approximately $10.05 billion, down from $12.52 billion before the earnings release, with at least 16 brokerages cutting their price targets on the stock.

From a longer-term perspective, PINS is down nearly 43% year-to-date and over 62% on a one-year basis, a stark contrast to the S&P 500’s positive returns over the same periods.

On valuation, Pinterest trades at approximately 9.49 times forward earnings estimates, broadly in line with struggling peer Snap at 9.42, but well below Reddit at 29.99 and Meta at 21.41. The company does carry financial strengths including $2.67 billion in cash and levered free cash flow of $936.5 million on a trailing basis, and the analyst consensus 1-year price target remains at $35.28.

Whether Pinterest can execute on its plan to diversify revenue through smaller advertisers and AI-powered features will be the critical test of the company’s ability to recover from its current tariff-driven turbulence.

Disclaimer: The author does not hold or have a position in any securities discussed in the article. All stock prices were quoted at the time of writing.