MW Pinterest's stock is rising. Here's why investors are cheering a big boost to the buyback program.

By Hannah Pedone

Pinterest's new share-repurchase authorization represents nearly a third of the company's market cap and signals to one analyst that an activist is satisfied with the company's strategic vision

Elliott Management announced it would invest another $1 billion in Pinterest on Tuesday.

Pinterest says it will ramp up share buybacks after picking up fresh support from an activist investor and declaring its stock to be underpriced.

The new $1 billion investment from Elliott Investment Management, which will take place through the purchase of senior convertible notes, comes alongside Pinterest's (PINS) announcement that it will repurchase up to $3.5 billion in Class A common stock.

Pinterest stock was up 6% on Tuesday.

The company has lost almost half of its value in the past year, and shares are down nearly 30% so far in 2026. In January, management said it would lay off 700 employees, or about 15% of Pinterest's workforce, as part of a restructuring plan aimed at allocating more resources to artificial intelligence. And in February, the company posted disappointing revenue as tariffs made marketers more cautious about their spending.

Pinterest has also faced growing competition from artificial-intelligence giants that are seeking to make it easier for users to find items to buy.

Pinterest's share-repurchase program marks an aggressive push to step up share buybacks. The authorization represents nearly a third of the company's $11.6 billion market capitalization and replaces Pinterest's previous program.

Read more: Pinned down by AI: Why 619 million users may not be able to rescue Pinterest

The company has also already completed $473 million in share repurchases this year through a prior buyback authorization. Part of the company's new authorization will go toward a $1 billion accelerated-repurchase program.

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said in the press release that the repurchase announcement reflects the company's belief that Pinterest's share price "undervalues" the business and its "significant long-term growth opportunity ahead."

Marc Steinberg, a partner at Elliott and a Pinterest board member, said Elliott is excited to "meaningfully increase" investment in Pinterest and "deepen" its partnership with the company. Elliott previously invested in Pinterest in 2022.

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian wrote that Elliott's latest investment shows "strong support" for the company's current strategic direction, as the firm is opting to pour more money into Pinterest "rather than pushing for a sale or leadership transition, which often accompany activist shareholder involvement."

"Importantly, Pinterest user growth and engagement trends remain positive, with monetization the key area of recent underperformance; importantly, it's harder to build a user base to Pinterest's scale than finding ways to connect advertisers to a highly motivated audience," Sebastian added.

Pinterest said that $2 billion in share repurchases can be expected in the first half of 2026, inclusive of the $473 million already made this year.

See also: Pinterest is slashing jobs and office space as it switches focus to AI roles

-Hannah Pedone

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March 03, 2026 11:42 ET (16:42 GMT)

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