Pinterest, one of this year’s more notable initial public offering “unicorns,” got its first bullish review from Wall Street.
Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell started covering the online company - known for its inspiration boards - with an overweight rating, and a 12-month price target of $23. That implies Pinterest may return as much as 53% if the IPO prices at the low end of its expected range - set yesterday at $15 to $17.
Pinterest should speed up and return to double digit growth starting in the second quarter after Google & Facebook-driven disruption caused a slowdown last year, Cordwell predicts. He expects the San Francisco-based company will duplicate its US success overseas.
Pinterest has room to narrow the gap in ad revenue per daily active user, which still trails Twitter.com by 20%, as well as on revenue per average user in the US and abroad, Cordwell said in a note to clients.
Pinterest’s sales should reach $1.1 billion this year, up from $765 million in 2018, Cordwell estimates.
He expects the technology company could be profitable on an adjusted, non-GAAP basis this year, and on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles by 2021.