Pinterest's Gamble Pays Off: A Shelby Company Take on Wall Street

By Order Of The Algorithm

Right so Pinterest this bloody online scrapheap of ideas they've gone and done alright for themselves. Shares up 15%. Fifteen! That's enough to buy a decent racehorse or at least a bloody good bottle of whiskey. They’re saying the revenue is up. $855 million against what those Wall Street blokes were expecting. Seems like someone knows how to count better than Polly. 'Everyone's a whore Grace. We just sell different parts of ourselves.' And Pinterest well they're selling bloody dreams aren't they?

More Users Than Birmingham Has Sinners

570 million monthly active users apparently. More than there are bloody sinners in Birmingham. And that's saying something. Old Bill Ready their CEO reckons they’ve turned it into a 'shopping destination'. Likely story. Sounds like Arthur trying to sell me snake oil but the numbers don't lie. Or do they? 'Lies travel faster than the truth'. Still people are pinning things and that means they're spending money. And that's all that matters in the end isn't it? We aim to misbehave and they aim to buy.

The American Blunder

Figures are up in Europe but down in the US and Canada. Bloody yanks. Always late to the party. Their loss our gain. The Blinders always knew where the real opportunities were: anywhere the competition wasn't looking and they weren't looking in Europe. This Julia Brau Donnelly bird their finance chief is bleating about trade wars and tariffs. 'There have been small pockets of spend that have been impacted by tariffs in recent weeks.' Peaky Blinders tariffs Pinterest. Funny old world innit? Just like the time i tried to import some whiskey.

From Declining Users to Secular Share Taker

Ready's calling it a resilient business. Says they've moved 'from a platform with declining users and modest revenue growth a few years ago into a secular share taker with a more resilient business than ever before.' Sounds like a politician making promises all fine words and no trousers. But here we are the bloody Shelbys writing about it. 'Whiskey's good proofing water. Tells you who's real and who isn't.' And these numbers well they might just be real after all.

The Gen Z Equation

Gen Z is on Pinterest. That's the key innit? The future is here and it’s pinning bloody pictures of avocado toast and whatever else those youngsters are into these days. It’s not the roaring twenties anymore but the game remains the same: give the people what they want and they’ll hand over their money. That is the Thomas Shelby guarantee. 'If you want something done well do it yourself.' And Pinterest seems to have learned that lesson well.

The Shadow of Uncertainty

The rest of the tech lot Meta Reddit Snap Alphabet they're all twitchy. Talking about headwinds and trade wars and the bloody apocalypse. It's enough to give a man a nervous breakdown but not me. I’ve seen worse. Pinterest though they’re keeping their cards close to their chest. Maybe they know something the others don't. Or maybe they're just better at hiding their fear. Either way 'it's when you can see the whites of their eyes when you know you've got them.' And right now Wall Street is looking straight at Pinterest.