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Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) lost more than a quarter of its value this year as its slowing user growth spooked the bulls. Should investors consider that sell-off a buying opportunity, or should they stay away? Let's weigh three reasons to buy Pinterest against one reason to sell in order to decide.

The market turned against Pinterest after it released its Q2 2021 report in late July, which revealed a sequential drop in monthly active users (MAUs). Its MAUs rose 9% year over year to 454 million, but declined from 478 million in the first quarter and 459 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

However, Pinterest's average revenue per user (ARPU) still rose 89% year over year and 27% sequentially to $1.32 during the second quarter. Its ARPU rose as its MAUs declined primarily because it lost desktop users, who were more difficult to monetize than its higher-growth mobile users.

Image source: Pinterest

If Pinterest's ARPU continues to climb, it could offset its slower growth in MAUs and boost its total revenue. That's why analysts still expect its revenue to rise 55% this year and 31% next year.

Pinterest generated a GAAP net income of $47.7 million in the first six months of 2021, compared to a net loss of $241.9 million a year earlier. It also generated a positive adjusted EBITDA of $262 million, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $87.2 million a year ago.

Those rising profits indicate Pinterest's growth is sustainable. It will likely spend less money on marketing efforts as its platform expands, and secure more favorable cloud hosting rates as its scale improves.

Wall Street expects Pinterest's non-GAAP earnings to jump 152% this year and increase another 31% next year. Those the kind of impressive growth rates that a stock trading at 47 times forward earnings needs to show.

Pinterest carved out a niche with its virtual pinboards, which let people share photos and videos of ideas, interests, and hobbies. Its visual format made it a natural fit for ads and shoppable pins. That's why big retailers like IKEA uploaded their entire catalogs to Pinterest, and why Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) partnered with Pinterest last year to enable its online merchants to use shoppable pins.

Those partnerships grant Pinterest an early-mover's advantage in the nascent "social shopping" market, which blurs the lines between social networks and e-commerce platforms. They also widen its moat against Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and its image-oriented platform Instagram.

Facebook tried to challenge Pinterest with Hobbi, a similar platform for curating ideas, last year. However, the company quietly killed off Hobbi a few months later after it failed to gain any traction against Pinterest. Facebook's failure indicates Pinterest's niche market is defensible -- and it could continue to grow as more people seek out fresh ideas on its pinboards.

Pinterest's growth accelerated through the pandemic as more people stayed at home, but decelerated as people started going back to their normal lives. The bulls will claim Pinterest's growth, like the growth of many e-commerce companies during the pandemic, was merely pulled forward -- and that its year-over-year comparisons will gradually normalize.

The bears will claim Pinterest is a passing fad that temporarily benefited from stay-at-home boredom, and that interest in the platform will wane after the pandemic ends. Back in July, Pinterest warned investors that its MAU growth would likely remain sluggish during the third quarter.

That warning has weighed down the stock ever since, and it probably won't rally again until its MAU growth stabilizes for several straight quarters. Therefore, it might be premature to buy Pinterest -- and more prudent to avoid it -- until that actually happens.

I personally own some shares of Pinterest, and I won't sell my stake just because the platform's MAUs declined as COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed.

I still believe Pintetest's strengths outweigh its weaknesses, and that investors who don't already own the stock can consider starting a small position at these lower prices. However, investors should subsequently keep an eye on its growth over the next few quarters before adding or selling more shares.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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3 Reasons to Buy Pinterest, And 1 Reason To Sell - Motley Fool

Megan Reyes has been working in sports media since her first internship in 2009, with a diverse range of entities including the University of Oregon, Golden State Warriors, the Athletic, and most recently, sports podcasting network Blue Wire Podcasts before setting out as a freelance sports branding and social marketing consultant. But while the range of places shes worked has been diverse, her co-workers havent always been.

I didnt see anyone that looked like me, let alone many women in the field, said Reyes, who identifies as Filipino, cis-het, and uses she/her pronouns, of the sports landscape. Then just as Ive grown in my career and gone to different places, seeing the ins and outs of different organizations and cultures and talking to other friends and seeing how things operate where they may work, I just realized theres a major lack of diversity.

That led Reyes, in February, to design and market a T-shirt making a simple declaration for more diverse voices in sports. The shirt lists identity markers she feels are underrepresented in the sports world, including women, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, and LGBTQ+. She also partnered with a trio of advocacy organizationsAthlete Ally, the Black Womens Player Collective, and Move Unitedthat could benefit from proceeds raised via shirt sales.

Though Reyes had plenty of anecdotal evidence about white male dominance in the sports world to draw from in making the shirts, theres also data backing what shes seeing.

ESPN reported recently on the 2021 Sports Media Racial and Gender Report Card: Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) Racial and Gender Report Card, noting that it evaluates the racial and gender hiring practices of more than 100 newspapers and websites across all circulation sizes.

The article noted, APSE earned a racial grade of a B-plus, an improvement from the B in 2018, while its gender grade remained an F. The overall grade of a C was an improvement from the D-plus in the 2018 study. It found, for instance, that 79.2% of the sports editors were white and 83.3% were men, while the percentage of women reporters rose from 11.5% in 2018 to 14.4% in 2021, and the percentage of BIPOC reporters increased from 17.9% in 2018 to 22.9% in 2021.

The entity responsible for that study, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, also did a study of FBS universities in 2018, looking at those schools hiring practices for leadership positions. According to the USA Today article on the study, TIDES gave the schools a D overall, combining a C grade for racial hiring and an F in gender hiring.

Since launching the campaign, Reyes has engaged at least one professional sports franchise, the Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL, which according to her was looking to engage its Spanish-speaking audience and hire Latino professionals who could help the team connect with that part of its audience.

Shes also attracted the attention of athletes who have repped the shirt on their social media platforms, including WNBA star AJa Wilson and NBA veteran Enes Kanter, and is coordinating with the New York-based NWSL team, NY/NJ Gotham FC, on a special version of the shirt using their color scheme.

The shirts also found advocates in the sports media world, including those who have built social media and traditional media platforms allowing them to amplify the message Reyes has committed to shirt form.

Christian Polanco created the Cooligans podcast in 2015, taking a comedic perspective on myriad soccer topics, along with fellow Latino comedian Alexis Guerreros, and theyve extended its reach to TV via the Fubo Sports Network. Polanco attributes its growth to both the hard work theyve done promoting the podcast and what he sees as the comparative open-mindedness of soccer fans. Even though, as he explains, some out there consider them the wrong kind of Latinos to cover the sport.

The fact that we get to do the show that we do is, to me, like this miracle, Polanco explains. Alexis is of Cuban heritage, Im of Dominican heritagetwo particular countries that are not big soccer countries. So the fact that two guys like us who are just fans of the game, and also get to do a television show about it, is nuts. If we had just pitched the show and hadnt been doing a podcast for five years beforehand, nobody would have bought into it.

Joy Taylor, who has her own Fox Sports Radio show and is a co-host for The Herd with Colin Cowherd, was drawn to the shirt and its message, learning of it just by virtue of following Reyes on Twitter.

I think its important to use your platform to encourage diversity, no matter where you are in the business, and also to encourage diversity not just on camera, but also behind the scenes and at the varying levels of decision making that lives within the media business, Taylor said, Behind the scenes, executives, PR, whatever the division may be, its important to have diversity at all those levels as well, because that influences what you see on-air as much as the talent thats hired.

Taylor, who is Black, started her sports media career in 2007, has found that wearing the shirt has led to important conversations shes been able to have around diversity in sports.

It often sparks the conversation of The best person should be hired for the job, which is the usual rebuttal to the idea of diversity in any space But, of course, if you come from a minority space, you will very much understand that its not that straightforward. People often scientifically hire people that look like them, that are the same gender as them, sometimes the same age as them, and feel comfortable with people of their backgrounds.

Its not as simple as The best person should get the opportunity because its sometimes impossible to even get in the room, she explained. And thats the conversation that is usually the response from when that shirt is posted. And I think thats an important conversation to explain to people.

Your workspace should reflect the world, and what the world looks like and sounds like and talks like, and the world is an extremely diverse place, she added. So if you look around the space that youre in, and youre surrounded by all of the same kinds of people, all the same gender, all the same identifying group, then not only are you missing the opportunity for different perspectives, and ideas and growth, but youre also not speaking to whole massive groups of people around the world. And thats why diversity is so important.

Reyes feels that social media can be an incredibly powerful tool for those looking to break into sports media to put themselves out there, seeing Twitter in particular as a way for creatives to put their work out where it can be seen.

Twitter is more of a recruiting tool than you realize, she asserted. Now that Ive been on the other side, when Ive been in hiring positions, Ill look to see, if were looking for someone that fits XYZ, let me scroll on the timeline, let me see if anyone comes to mind, let me check out peoples work.

She also saw first-hand, in the process, how much momentum something started on social media can generate should it resonate with people. My initial thought was let me do this for International Womens Day [on March 8], maybe Ill do it for the month of March for Womens History Month and then Ill close up orders.

She even thought about shutting down orders in April, but noted, Multiple people in my circle told me, You cant close it. You cant shut it down now.

Then, reflecting on the opportunities to connect with people and raise awareness over the issue, added, And Im glad I didnt.

Presented byRhodens Road Trip,a part of the Undefeated on ESPN+ Black History Always Collection

Award-winning columnist William C. Bill Rhoden is the product of a grand HBCU tradition. Rhodens collegiate journey began at Morgan State University, where he was a member of the 1968 team that beat Grambling in Yankee Stadium in the Whitney Young Classic. One of the most respected journalists of his generation spanning nearly four decades he has witnessed the changing face of HBCUs from their rise to their desire to thrive. Fifty years after that memorable moment at Yankee Stadium, Rhoden, along with the help of the Rhoden Fellows, a team of aspiring HBCU journalists, explore the rich history and culture of HBCU football.

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Megan Reyes wants you to demand diverse voices in sportson a T-shirt - The Daily Dot

This story was updated to reflect that Twitch has confirmed the breach.

Streaming platform Twitch was hacked, revealing the sites source code, as well as creator payouts.

The 125GB leak was posted in a 4chan message board on Wednesday, stating that the leak was intended to foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space."Video Games Chronicle first reported on the leak earlier today.

Ad Age has reached out to Twitch for comment. Twitch confirmed the breach on Twitter.

The leaked Twitch data reportedly includes:

The leak comes almost a month after Twitch streamers went dark on Sept. 1 in #ADayOffTwitch, a movement meant to bring attention to the increased harassment and hate raids the platform has been dealing with. Hate raids are when a streamer's chat becomes flooded with racist, sexist, transphobic and other abusive messages. These raids have increased in recent months due to bots that can post hundreds of hate messages at once.

#ADayOffTwitch stemmed from the #TwitchDoBetter movement. In response to what they thought was Twitchs slow response to the abuse, streamer RekitRaven created the #TwitchDoBetter hashtag to urge Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, to address the harassment.

"Twitch is an essential platform in the modern marketing mix for paid, owned and earned content. so from that point of view anything that disrupts or threatens the operation of the platform is a concern for marketers," said Rob Davis, head of digital innovation at Ogilvy. "From what we understand, the risks from this hack are primarily to Twitch the business itself and not brand partners. If the details we are hearing are true, the code breaches and exposure of the unreleased 'Vapo'product are the most concerning, but again that is a problem for Twitch and not brands."

Added Davis:"If we have (re)learned anything this week, it's that major social networks and content platforms are not immune from either internal error or malicious disruption."

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What brands need to know about the Twitch hack - AdAge.com

In the United States, nearly 40 percent of all food produced is never eaten, resulting in lost resources, economic costs to business and households, decreased food security, and negative climate impacts.

With the United States moving toward an ambitious goal ofhalving food waste by 2030,a new $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will be used to establish the first national academic research network on wasted food in the United States.

Under the grant, researchers from American University will lead 13 other institutions in a five-year project aiming to deepen understanding of how the causes of wasted food are interconnected and how they intersect with other regional systems beyond food. Researchers will take a systems approach to improving data on wasted food, with the goal of designing and strengthening sustainable solutions to reducing food waste.

Callie Babbitt, a professor of sustainability in RITs Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS), will serve as a co-principal investigator for the project,titled Multiscale RECIPES for Sustainable Food Systems,which officially kicked off Oct. 1. RECIPES is short for Resilient, Equitable and Circular Innovations with Partnership and Education Synergies.

Ourresearchwill re-envision wasted food asavaluable resourceas it relates tothecircular economy, Babbitt said. RIT will collaboratewith business and industry partners toexplore andcreate solutions that maximize the healthy, nutritious food used to feed people, minimize costly inefficiencies, and recycle unavoidable wastes into bio-based products and clean energy that powers the regional economy.

Additional researchers for RITs $1.8 million part of the project include Christy Tyler, Thomas Trabold, Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Nathan Eddingsaas, and Todd Pagano.

Rochester-area partners include the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, Wegmans Food Markets, Biomass Controls, CH4 Biogas, R.L. Jeffres & Sons, Monroe County Department of Environmental Services, Natural Upcycling, and OWARECO, LLC. The project collaborators will provide data and information on regional food system challenges and work with the network to create solutions that reduce and recycle food waste and contribute to economic growth.

According to Babbitt, RITs focus will build on current NSF food waste research and an NSF-funded workshop the university held in 2019. Researchers will study new technologies for recovering the energy, water, and nutrients contained in food waste in a circular economy framework, she added.

We are studying their overall performance, economics, and ecological footprint, Babbitt noted. One issue, for example, involves food waste mixed with packaging, which is a contaminant during recovery. Some technologies can co-process both. But that might lead to micro-plastic releases to local ecosystems, which builds on Christy Tylers work on plastics in the environment.

The five-year project will engage communities in California, and the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions. In addition to RIT, research partners include the Maryland Institute College of Art, World Wildlife Fund, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, University of Albany, Louisiana State University, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Illinois Institute of Technology, Duke University, and University of California-Davis.

The NSF project includes work in the following areas and will engage communities andfrontline workers in food industries, as well as nonprofit, government, and private-sector stakeholders:

The project was awarded under NSFs Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks program. NSF research networks create knowledge and solutions that enhance sustainability, equity and resilience of regional systems in the United States. To learn more, go to the Multiscale RECIPES for Sustainable Food Systems website and follow @WastedFoodNtwk on Twitter.

For more information, contact Rich Kiley at 585-475-5697, Rich.Kiley@rit.edu, or on Twitter: @rakiley.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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RIT researchers part of $15 million NSF grant aimed at reducing food waste - EurekAlert

KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, in collaboration with the breast cancer advocacy community and Emmy-nominated actress, Yvonne Orji, launched a new initiative, Uncovering TNBC, to shed light on the unique challenges Black women face when diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Non-Hispanic Black women are approximately two times more likely to have TNBC than non-Hispanic white women, and compared to white women, Black women are more likely to die of the disease. Join Yvonne as she speaks with Sharon, Tiah and Damesha, three women diagnosed with TNBC, who share their stories of triumphs while also discussing the health disparities Black women can face. Through the web docuseries and educational materials, Uncovering TNBC aims to inform Black women and empower them to advocate for themselves with their health care team.

With a masters degree in public health and a nurse for a mother, Yvonne has been passionate about closing the health care equity gap since before she became a TV star.

I know firsthand how important it is for Black women to take charge of their health and advocate for themselves. Data shows women in our community have a higher chance of developing TNBC, but we can take steps to help protect ourselves and our families, said Yvonne. I hope these stories uplift women with TNBC and inspire them to get the care they need.

The centerpiece of the Uncovering TNBC campaign is a three-episode web docuseries that highlights the challenges Black women with TNBC can face throughout their cancer journeys. Hosted by Yvonne, the docuseries spotlights three brave warriors and their experiences with TNBC: Damesha from North Carolina, Sharon from Virginia and Tiah from Georgia. The series aims to amplify the stories of Black women with TNBC and offers resources that will help others understand their risks and advocate for themselves. The initiative also includes a webpage of educational information for women who have a higher chance of developing or are newly diagnosed with TNBC and their loved ones.

There is no shortage of breast cancer resources, yet so few are developed with the unique needs of Black women in mind, said Maimah Karmo, founder and CEO, Tigerlily Foundation. As a native of Liberia myself, I am proud to collaborate with Merck and Ms. Orji to support the tireless efforts to meet that need and further bridge the gap to care.

Were honored to collaborate with advocacy organizations who have been at the forefront of fighting for heath equity in the breast cancer community on this important campaign, said Jill DeSimone, president, U.S. Oncology, Merck. For Black women with TNBC, optimal care is about more than just treating cancer: Its about being understood and supported. Uncovering TNBC is an important program that is part of our broader efforts at Merck to help advance health equity for all people with cancer.

About Uncovering TNBC

In collaboration with Susan G. Komen, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Tigerlily Foundation, and Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, Uncovering TNBC was developed specifically for Black women, who have a higher chance of developing or are newly diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC accounts for about 10-15% of all breast cancers and is an aggressive type of cancer that is often difficult to treat. Black women who have a higher chance of developing or are newly diagnosed with TNBC can face unique disparities, including inadequate breast cancer screening, lack of access to treatment and less access to preventive and educational information.

Uncovering TNBC offers strategies to help address the barriers Black women can face in their journey. Through culturally relevant, educational and solution-oriented content, the program aims to support patients from diagnosis to survivorship. Information and resources can be found on UncoverTNBC.com.

About Yvonne Orji

Yvonne Orji is a Nigerian-American Emmy-nominated actress, comedian and writer who continues to display her versatility and passion with each project she takes on. In addition to her starring role in the critically acclaimed HBO comedy series, Insecure, she is a distinguished stand-up comedian, feature film star, podcast host and published author.

Outside of her creative work, Yvonne is dedicated to her charitable efforts. In 2008, she spent six months working in post-conflict Liberia with Population Services International (PSI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that uses social marketing to promote health behaviors. While in Liberia, she worked with a group of talented youth to help build a mentoring program and a weekly talk show that helped educate and prevent teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.

Yvonne has brought her work with the youth community back to the States, where she is now involved with (RED) campaigns and faith-based youth ministries.

About Merck

For over 130 years, Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the worlds most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit http://www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the company) includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the companys management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of the global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the companys ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the companys patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the companys 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the companys other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SECs Internet site (www.sec.gov).

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Merck and Emmy-Nominated Actress Yvonne Orji Unveil Uncovering TNBC, Highlighting the Challenges Faced by Black Women Diagnosed with Triple-Negative...