Pinterest's CEO changeover indicates commerce shift - analysts
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The changing of the guard atop Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) is an indication of the social-media company's moves further into e-commerce, analysts are saying in reaction to the move.
Pinterest's co-founder Ben Silbermann announced he was moving from the CEO job to executive chairman after the close Tuesday, and said he would be replaced by Google's Bill Ready.
Ready has been president of commerce at Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) since 2020, and the move shows that commerce is now a top priority at Pinterest (PINS), Baird says.
The company has the potential to become a fully functional commerce platform, it says, though near-term trends should remain "choppy" amid concerns about monthly active user stabilization and revenue growth in a tougher macroeconomic backdrop.
Given Ready's background in payments and e-commerce - prior to Google, he was operating chief at PayPal and CEO of Venmo - it's a natural move as Pinterest builds out a full-funnel shopping experience, says Citi analyst Ronald Josey.
"Ready can make shopping a more seamless experience overall," Josey said, noting encouragement from newer products at Pinterest. Josey also expressed concern with MAU pressures, though, noting the company highlighting its 400M-plus global MAUs vs. its report of 433M as of mid-April.
After a sharp postmarket gain Tuesday following the news, Pinterest (PINS) is flat Wednesday, down just 0.2%.
Meanwhile at Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), Nick Fox - the head of Google's long-term bets - will be the interim leader of Google's commerce, payments and Next Billion Users businesses, Axios reports. Fox at one point led Google's communication products, including Google Voice and Hangouts, as well as the Adwords unit.
The move suggests Google will stay on its recent course of having commerce and payments run by one person, pursuing a strategy of working with merchants and banks rather than competing with them.