Pinterest Inc beat estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, making it a rare bright spot in an otherwise downbeat social media sector and sending the image-sharing platform's shares 15% higher in after-hours trading.

The company returned to user growth in the third quarter, with its global monthly active users rising 2.8% sequentially to 445 million, which was above Factset estimates of 437.4 million.

Its third-quarter revenue rose 8% to $684.6 million. While the pace of growth was slowest in nearly two years, the figure came in well above the $666.7 million expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.

Decades-high inflation is forcing companies to make cuts to their marketing budgets this year, driving online player such as Alphabet Inc, Meta Platforms Inc and Snap Inc to intensely compete for shrinking ad dollars.

But the results show that people are still engaging with Pinterest's platform for inspiration to take up activities such as home renovation and recipe-based cooking.

Pinterest's global average revenue per user (ARPU) jumped 11% to $1.56 in the quarter.

The company posted a net loss of $65.2 million, or 10 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $94 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier.

Pinterest said it was expecting revenue growth in mid-single-digit percentage in the current quarter, due to slightly greater foreign exchange headwinds than in the third quarter.

  - Reuters