Celestica's Explosive Growth vs Pinterest's Stalled Momentum: Where Should Investors Look Now?

A Tale of Two Trajectories

The technology sector never lacks drama, and right now Celestica Inc. (CLS) and Pinterest, Inc. (PINS) offer a textbook case of divergent growth stories. One is coiled to spring forward with accelerating demand, while the other is struggling to find traction in a competitive landscape. Understanding what separates these two companies—and their investment prospects—requires looking beyond surface-level metrics to the underlying business dynamics driving each.

The Numbers Tell Revealing Stories

Let’s start with what the data reveals. Celestica is projected to deliver a stunning 26.3% sales increase in 2025, with earnings per share (EPS) surging 52.1% year-over-year. Even more telling, analyst consensus on Celestica’s EPS has strengthened over the past two months, climbing 6.3%—a sign of rising confidence in the company’s execution. Over the past 12 months, CLS shares have skyrocketed 227.2%, substantially outpacing the broader sector’s 91.6% advance.

Pinterest presents a markedly different picture. Its projected 2025 sales growth of 16.1% is respectable but modest compared to Celestica, while EPS growth of 27.1%—though solid—pales against Celestica’s trajectory. Notably, analyst estimates for Pinterest have been trending downward, declining 8.9% over the same period. Compounding these headwinds, PINS stock has fallen 18.2% over the past year.

Why Celestica Possesses the Edge

Celestica’s competitive positioning stems from its deep expertise in electronics manufacturing services, spanning more than 20 years of operational refinement. The company has built an optimized, global manufacturing footprint designed to deliver next-generation infrastructure solutions precisely when demand is surging.

The explosion of artificial intelligence investments across the tech ecosystem has become a primary tailwind. Organizations worldwide are racing to deploy AI infrastructure, driving insatiable demand for the enterprise-level products Celestica specializes in: data center interconnects, advanced routers, network switches, servers, and storage solutions. This AI wave is creating a favorable multi-year demand cycle for sophisticated infrastructure manufacturers.

Celestica’s diversified customer base—spanning communications, aerospace, defense, healthcare, semiconductors, and cloud service providers—cushions the business against sector-specific downturns. When one industry faces cyclical weakness, others compensate. This resilience is a genuine competitive advantage in volatile markets.

However, Celestica isn’t without challenges. The company carries structural margin pressures stemming from heavy research and development investments required to produce cutting-edge products. Competition from established players like Foxconn and Flex remains intense. Additionally, the semiconductor industry’s inherent cyclicality—exacerbated by recent trade tensions—creates an unpredictable backdrop.

Pinterest’s Struggle to Gain Traction

Pinterest has implemented thoughtful strategies to strengthen its advertising platform, including enhanced AI-driven personalization, new merchant tools, and partnerships like its collaboration with Amazon to deepen shopping capabilities. The acquisition of The Yes, an AI-powered fashion platform, signals ambition to evolve its commerce functionality.

Yet these initiatives are shadowed by mounting operational burdens. Pinterest expects substantial cost increases as it expands geographically, broadens its user and advertiser base, and invests in infrastructure. These expanding expenses are pressuring profitability and dampening investor enthusiasm—reflected in declining analyst estimates and year-long share declines.

The social commerce space has become increasingly crowded, with both tech giants and specialized players competing fiercely for advertiser spending. Pinterest’s smaller scale works against it when competing for marketing budgets against larger, better-capitalized rivals.

The Valuation Verdict

From a valuation lens, Celestica’s advantage crystallizes. Trading at 2.06x forward sales, it’s significantly cheaper than Pinterest’s 3.54x multiple. This discount reflects not just market skepticism of Pinterest’s near-term prospects, but also recognition of Celestica’s superior growth trajectory and profitability momentum.

The Clear Winner

The Zacks investment framework reinforces what the fundamentals suggest: Celestica carries a Strong Buy (#1 Rank) designation, while Pinterest sits at Sell (#4 Rank). Both companies anticipate improved sales and earnings in 2025, but their trajectories diverge sharply. Celestica has consistently delivered sharp, accelerating revenue and EPS advances, whereas Pinterest’s growth remains linear and challenged.

For investors weighing opportunities between these two fundamentally different businesses, Celestica’s combination of superior growth acceleration, stronger analyst momentum, better valuation metrics, and favorable positioning within the AI infrastructure cycle makes it the more compelling choice at this juncture.