What happened
Shares of Pinterest (PINS -2.86%) had climbed by as much as 5% as of 11:20 a.m. EST today after getting a bullish initiation of coverage from Wall Street. Evercore ISI (EVR -2.64%) started Pinterest stock with an outperform rating alongside a price target of $97, which represents approximately 22% upside from yesterday's closing price.
So what
Analyst Mark Mahaney believes that the social media technology company has a differentiated platform that is quickly evolving and should be able to improve monetization while capitalizing on potential e-commerce opportunities. The pandemic accelerated the shift of advertising budgets toward digital platforms, which is a trend that Evercore expects to persist.
The Pinterest app. Image source: Pinterest
Now what
The upgrade comes following rumors that Pinterest is in talks to acquire VSCO, a photo-editing app that has seen a recent resurgence in popularity among younger demographics even though it was originally released nearly a decade ago. The potential deal could make sense since Pinterest's service is fundamentally a visual platform.
Pinterest recently said that it plans to prioritize content, advertiser success, and shopping in 2021. Revenue in the first quarter is expected to grow in the low 70% range. The company's development efforts will focus on its Pinner product as well as advertiser offerings.
