Shares of Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) fell 8.5% on January 25 to close at $28.46 after reports that at least seven senior executives have recently left the company, according to The Information.
However, at the time of writing, shares of the visual discovery engine had gained almost 4% in pre-market trading.
Markedly, Pinterest could be a potential takeover candidate based on news that it is being pursued by many big companies, including Microsoft (MSFT) and PayPal (PYPL).
Senior Executives Depart
Many key senior executives have left or are in the process of leaving the company. These include Pinterest’s head of corporate developments, Gary Johnson, and head of core products, Omar Seyal.
Other executives leaving the company are Colleen Stauffer (global head of creator marketing), Ravi Adusumilli (global head of business development and partnerships), Silvia Oviedo Lopez (global head of content and creators), Celestine Maddy (global head of consumer and brand marketing) and Meredith Guerriero (vice president of sales and partnerships).
Despite the departures, the company has grown its headcount by 30% over the past year.
Global Slowdown
Pinterest benefitted from the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing strong growth in its user base. However, over the last couple of months, the company has witnessed a slump in its advertising and user base growth.
According to a recent report, its U.S. user base declined 10% while growth dropped to 1% globally.
Wall Street’s Take
Yesterday, Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik decreased the price target on Pinterest to $35 (23% upside potential) from $50 and reiterated a Hold rating.
The rest of the Wall Street community is cautiously optimistic about the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 6 Buys and 15 Holds. The average Pinterest stock forecast of $50.90 implies 78.85% upside potential to current levels.
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