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CEO Bill Ready explained that Pinterest competes on multiple fronts: competitive compensation tied to clear ROI, a strong mission focused on positivity and responsible AI, and offering a unique 'sandbox' for engineers. He noted the platform's scale of nearly 600 million users and its unique curation data make it a highly attractive place for top talent to work.

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CEO Bill Ready outlined a three-pronged strategy: competitive compensation funded by the clear ROI of AI initiatives, a compelling mission focused on positive and responsible AI, and a unique 'sandbox' for engineers. He argued that Pinterest's mission and unique visual curation dataset help it 'punch above its weight' in attracting top talent who value more than just money.

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CEO Bill Ready confirmed that Performance+ is key to delivering on the full-funnel promise. He highlighted that advertisers using both upper- and lower-funnel objectives see double the conversion rates, which allows CMOs to justify brand spend by tying it directly to performance outcomes, a crucial capability in uncertain economic times.

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CFO Julia Donnelly noted the Q1 guidance of 15-17% constant currency growth implies a sequential acceleration on a two-year stack basis. Key drivers include improved advertiser value from lower-funnel tools, which drove a 90% increase in clicks, and the steady adoption of Performance+. She also mentioned that the headwind from the food and beverage category is expected to lessen as the company begins to lap the initial softness.

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CFO Erin Brewer clarified the Q3 guidance includes two months of Free Now during its seasonally lower period. CEO David Risher provided a detailed update on partnerships, including the new United Airlines deal, the successful refresh of the Chase offer, continued growth from DoorDash, and the launch of a new Business Rewards program. He noted that partnership-linked rides now account for 25% of total rides.

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CEO David Risher confirmed the Canada business is on track to double its ride volume year-over-year, with Toronto now being Lyft's sixth-largest market. For Lyft Media, he stated it is on track to meet its year-end run-rate goals, with a current focus on enhancing ad measurability for partners by leveraging Lyft's first-party data.

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People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel stated that on-platform sessions are expected to be flat to slightly up long-term, with continued strong growth in off-platform views. IAC CFO & COO Christopher Halpin added that both on- and off-platform revenues generate attractive, accretive margins. For Q2, Halpin noted 5% advertising growth and strong performance marketing, with a Q3 digital revenue growth forecast of 7-9% driven by improved monetization and continued strength in performance marketing and licensing.

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Christopher Halpin, an IAC executive, explained that Q1 DDM digital ad growth was modest at 1% due to tough comps and timing issues, with overall 7% growth driven by strong licensing and performance marketing. For the Q2 guide of 7-9% growth, he cited stable traffic and solid performance marketing offset by soft programmatic pricing. Halpin also clarified that IAC gained access to DDM's cash after DDM's total leverage ratio fell below the 4x threshold required by its credit agreement.

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Christopher Halpin, an IAC executive, attributed DDM's Q4 strength to a post-election ramp in traffic and ad spend, exceptional performance marketing growth of 22%, and strong licensing revenue. An attendee identified as Barry Diller, Senior Executive and Chairman, stated that he had previously 'frozen' capital returns to focus on business turnarounds but that this period has now ended. He indicated future capital allocation will be a mix of returning capital to shareholders and seeking new investment opportunities, with a focus on strengthening DDM.

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Executive Christopher Halpin attributed Q3's 16% digital revenue growth to strong traffic (sessions +14%) and monetization (programmatic rates +30%), despite weakness in Performance Marketing. For Q4, he cited a softer October due to election-related advertiser caution, leading to a mid-to-high single-digit growth guide. Looking to 2025, Halpin reiterated confidence in a baseline of 10% digital revenue growth for DDM, driven by a mix of traffic growth and improved monetization.

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IAC CEO Joey Levin stated that IAC is not seeing significant macro weakness, highlighting a solid Prime Day for DDM commerce and a healthy ad pipeline. IAC Executive Christopher Halpin attributed DDM's Q2 margin strength to better-than-expected traffic and monetization. For Q3, he cited strong traffic, a solid ad market in key categories like health and retail, and recovery in weaker verticals as drivers for the positive outlook.

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CFO Steven Bailey responded that the focus is on improving user (MAU) trends, not specifically payers. He expects MAU and payer trends to continue declining at a stable rate this year until product innovations take effect. Regarding OpEx, he confirmed the company is now looking for further efficiencies across the entire cost base, with savings likely materializing in 2026. CEO Spencer Rascoff added that unifying marketing measurement across the portfolio is one example of a future OpEx savings opportunity.

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President and CFO Gary Swidler confirmed the expectation that moderating declines at evergreen brands and strong growth at emerging brands should allow the E&E segment to become a growth contributor. He highlighted demographically-focused apps like Chispa, BLK, and the recently acquired Salaams as key drivers, aided by a 'build once, deploy everywhere' strategy that improves margins.

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CFO Gary Swidler explained that the perceived deceleration is due to a difficult year-over-year comparison, as Hinge launched its highly successful weekly subscription packages in Q4 of the prior year. He emphasized that underlying user growth and market share gains remain very strong.

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CFO Vanna Krantz explained that the guidance reflects what they have a clear line of sight to and that they expect continued growth in both payers and ARPU, similar to past performance. CEO George Arison added that they are focused on adding value to paid tiers. For the follow-up, Vanna Krantz specified that key investments will be in hiring for technology, AI, and data science to support the increasingly sophisticated product roadmap.

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CFO Vanna Krantz confirmed the weekly Unlimited tier is driving higher conversion with pleasantly low cannibalization. She attributed MAU growth to macro trends, a better user experience from bug fixes, and new features. CEO George Arison added that future relationship-focused features could re-engage older cohorts. On technical debt, he detailed the significant backend work completed since 2020 and the recent 'bug bash' that resolved over 75% of accumulated bugs, improving app stability.

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CEO Andy Jassy stated that Amazon has 'not yet seen diminishing returns' from improving delivery speed, which drives more frequent purchases, especially for everyday essentials. Regarding the inbound network, he confirmed a recent 'significant architectural change' is still in its early days, and he expects to gain additional efficiencies and lower the cost to serve throughout the year as the new system is tuned and refined.

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