Pinterest (PINS -0.56%) is a social media company like no other, focusing on things instead of people. In this Fool Live video clip, recorded on June 8, Fool.com contributor Matt Frankel, CFP, and Chief Growth Officer Anand Chokkavelu discuss why Pinterest is their top social media stock to buy and hold for the long term.
Anand Chokkavelu: Number one, we've got Pinterest, PINS. We've talked a lot about Pinterest. At least I have, I think you have too. Great positive social media platform where folks are trying to actually get things done versus being negative and things like that.
Matt Frankel: What's the fun in that?
Chokkavelu: The usual story of, they've got a great audience. They just need to monetize it better. Those of us who are bullish think that they absolutely can, both in the U.S. and internationally. Anything you want to add on Pinterest, Matt? It's your number one.
Frankel: I'd say internationally is the key word there in your last sentence. They make something like one-tenth of their revenue per average U.S. customer from their average international customer. That's where about 80% of the user base is. I'm not saying it's ever going to get there. If you look at the numbers from Facebook (META 1.11%), there's a big gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world monetization. But there's a lot of room to narrow that gap. If they can, that alone would grow their revenue four or five times over. If they can narrow the gap between international and U.S. I'm a big Pinterest fan. I happened to buy in at the exact right day at the bottom of the pandemic. I think by cost basis in Pinterest is like $14. So that appealed to the value investor in me. But the more I dug into the business, the more I like it. I love their e-commerce potential, natural fit for e-commerce. I can't tell you how many things my wife found on Pinterest and then wind up going and buying, so why not be part of that process? They're just starting to figure out how to do that. They partner with Shopify (SHOP 0.55%), for example, they let users create Pins and things like that. I'm really excited to see where Pinterest goes over the years.