With a surge in social media usage in recent years, the prospects of the creator economy have gone from being modest to the most preferred by modern consumers. In this environment, investors could scoop up fundamentally stable social media stocks, Pinterest, Inc. (PINS), Meta Platforms, Inc. (META), and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), which are thriving in the age of the creator economy.
For the current generation, digital content is the preferred form of entertainment. Growing up with the internet at their fingertips, social media and digital technologies have been an integral part of Gen Z’s social interactions, education, entertainment, and information consumption.
That being said, social media platforms are experiencing an influx of new users mainly for consuming the vast range of content available to them. With more than 5.24 billion people currently using social media worldwide, the digital content creation market has never seen better days.
In this context, the creator economy’s prospects have gone up quite significantly. Powered by platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch, which provide tools and spaces for creators to share their videos, podcasts, art, and other content, these creators generate value through the creation and distribution of digital content.
According to a study by Coherent Market Insights, the global creator economy market is forecasted to reach $528.39 billion by 2030, growing at an impressive CAGR of 22.5%. This robust growth figure showcases the ample amount of opportunities present in the sector for investors.
Now, let us dive deep into the fundamentals of three Internet stocks that are thriving in the creator economy, starting with #3.
Stock #3: Pinterest, Inc. (PINS)
PINS is a visual search and discovery platform that allows people to explore and find inspiration across various interests, from recipes and home decor to fashion and more. The platform allows users to search, save, and shop their favorite ideas seamlessly.
On October 1, 2024, PINS announced its new lineup of AI and automation lower-funnel ad products, the Pinterest Performance+ suite. Advertisers now have the option to use this feature for Consideration, Conversions, or Catalog Sales objectives.
Aimed at driving lower-funnel performance by optimizing targeting, managing budgets, or deciding how much to bid, the new feature could enhance advertisers’ experience using the platform and bring in better growth prospects for the company.
For the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2024, PINS’ revenue increased 17.6% year-over-year to $1.15 billion. Its income from operations rose 33.3% from the year-ago value to $261.59 million.
Additionally, the company’s non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per share grew 4% and 5.7% from the prior year’s quarter to $385.58 million and $0.56, respectively.
Analysts expect PINS’ revenue and EPS for the fiscal 2025 first quarter ended in March to increase 14.7% and 28.7% year-over-year to $848.42 million and $0.26, respectively. Moreover, the company has surpassed the consensus revenue estimates in each of the four trailing quarters, which is impressive.
PINS’ stock has surged 28.5% over the past month and 31.4% over the past six months, closing the last trading session at $39.09.
PINS’ POWR Ratings reflect its sound fundamentals. The stock has an overall rating of B, translating to a Buy in our proprietary rating system. The POWR Ratings assess stocks by 118 different factors, each with its own weighting.
PINS has a B grade for Quality and Growth. It is ranked #22 out of 48 stocks within the A-rated Internet industry.
In addition to the POWR Rating highlighted above, you can check PINS’ ratings for Value, Stability, Sentiment, and Momentum here.
Stock #2: Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)
META develops products that connect people with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables. The company's family of apps includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. It has two segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs.
On February 3, 2025, META shared its Frontier AI Framework, designed to maximize the benefits of the most advanced AI systems for society. The framework focuses on the most critical risks in the areas of cybersecurity threats and risks from chemical and biological weapons.
This framework could enhance the company’s position in the defense and cybersecurity industry.
For the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2024, META’s revenue increased 20.6% year-over-year to $48.39 billion. Its income from operations rose 42.6% from the year-ago value to $23.37 billion. Plus, the company’s net income and EPS grew 48.7% and 50.5% from the prior year’s quarter to $20.84 billion and $8.02, respectively.
The consensus revenue and EPS estimates of $41.45 billion and $5.22 for the fiscal 2025 first-quarter ending in March reflect a year-over-year rise of 13.7% and 10.9%, respectively. Moreover, the company has surpassed the consensus revenue and EPS estimates in each of the four trailing quarters, which is notable.
META’s stock has surged 19.8% over the past month and 55.7% over the past nine months to close the last trading session at $728.56.
The stock’s stable fundamentals are mirrored in its POWR Ratings. It has an overall rating of B, which translates to a Buy in our proprietary rating system.
META has an A grade for Quality and a B for Sentiment. Within the Internet industry, the stock is ranked #16 out of 48 stocks.
Click here to access META’s Value, Stability, Momentum, and Growth ratings.
Stock #1: Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
GOOGL provides various products and platforms, including Android, Chrome devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. The company has three segments: Google Services; Google Cloud; and Other Bets segments.
On February 5, 2025, GOOGL announced the availability of its updated Gemini 2.0 Flash available to everyone through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI. Capable of performing high-volume, high-frequency tasks at scale and multimodal reasoning across vast amounts of information with a context window of 1 million tokens, this release puts the company in a leading position in the AI race.
On February 1, 2025, GOOGL announced the release of the highly-anticipated NVIDIA Corporation’s (NVDA) Blackwell GPUs to Google Cloud with the preview of A4 VMs, powered by NVIDIA HGX B200. Coming with eight Blackwell GPUs interconnected by fifth-generation NVIDIA NVLink and offering a significant performance boost, the release offers top-of-the-line computing.
For the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2024, GOOGL’s revenues increased 11.8% year-over-year to $96.47 million. Its operating income rose 30.7% from the year-ago value to $30.97 billion. Also, the company’s net income and EPS grew 28.3% and 31.1% from the prior year’s quarter to $26.54 billion and $2.15, respectively.
Street expects GOOGL’s revenue and EPS for the fiscal 2025 first-quarter ending in March to increase 10.9% and 7.1% year-over-year to $89.33 billion and $2.02, respectively. Furthermore, the company has surpassed the consensus EPS estimates in each of the four trailing quarters, which is impressive.
GOOGL’s stock has surged 13.4% over the past six months and 28.3% over the past year, ending the last trading session at $186.14.
Its POWR Ratings reflect its sound prospects. The stock has an overall rating of B, translating to a Buy in our proprietary rating system.
GOOGL has a B grade for Quality. It is ranked #14 out of 48 stocks within the same industry.
To access GOOGL’s Growth, Sentiment, Stability, Value, and Momentum ratings, click here.
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GOOGL shares rose $0.33 (+0.18%) in premarket trading Friday. Year-to-date, GOOGL has declined -1.67%, versus a 4.04% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
About the Author: Aritra_Gangopadhyay
Aritra is a financial journalist dedicated to breaking down complex financial topics into simple, actionable insights. Holding a Master’s degree in Economics, he uses his analytical expertise to help investors uncover unique opportunities for long-term success.
3 Social Media Stocks Thriving in the Creator Economy StockNews.com
