AUTOPINS

** Shares of image-sharing platform Pinterest PINS.N fall 3.5% to $41.72 premarket

** Piper Sandler notes lower growth in traffic to Amazon.com AMZN.O via Pinterest in May - traffic grew over 83% Y/Y, a deceleration from around 147% in April and over 100% in the last seven months

** PINS' cost per click (CPC) trends in Feb-May suggest a continued decline, remaining below the average of $0.90 - Piper Sandler

** PINS partnered with AMZN last year; in February, brokerage estimated $120 mln revenue increment from the partnership in early FY24 for PINS

** Co also raised its Q2 revenue forecast on expectations of a boost from its ad partnerships with AMZN and Alphabet GOOGL.O

** However, brokerage reiterates its overweight rating and top mid-cap pick status for PINS on constructive takeaways from its discussion with management; stands on PT of $52

** PINS has gained over 16% YTD, as of last close

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru)

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Recasts throughout with new MPV price, new car versions and context

BEIJING, March 1 (Reuters) - Li Auto 2015.HK officially launched on Friday its first pure electric model MEGA multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), which founder and CEO Li Xiang expects to become the Chinese electric vehicle startup's top seller among cars priced above half a million yuan.

The company also unveiled some higher-priced new versions in its existing L series, despite a protracted price war in the sector, and announced plans to invest at least 6 billion yuan ($833.6 million) in the coming years to build more than 5,000 directly operated 5C charging stations.

The new family flagship MEGA Max, touted by Li as the fastest-charging mass-produced car, goes for 559,800 yuan, and deliveries will start on March 11.

The MEGA, dubbed by company as the "highway bullet train" due to its streamlined bullet-style shape, can travel 500 kilometres (311 miles) on a 12-minute charge.

The EV startup also took the wraps off new versions of its L series of hybrid SUVs - the L7, L8 and L9. It hiked prices for a new version of the L7 Pro by 2.9% and the new L8 Pro by 2.8%.

By comparison, U.S. EV giant Tesla TSLA.O and local heavyweight BYD 002594.SZ have both delved deeper into a protracted price war.

The official launch of Li Auto's first all-electric model, first unveiled at the Guangzhou auto show in November, came after the nine-year-old automaker beat fourth quarter earnings estimates on Monday as it posted its first year of profitability in 2023.

The company expected first quarter deliveries to range between 100,000 and 103,000 vehicles, a 90.2-95.9% rise from a year earlier but down 21.9-24.1% from the previous quarter.

At Friday's event, founder Li also said that "our goal is to, within three years, enable all staffers at Li Auto factories to get paid at same levels as that in developed industrial nations such as Japan and Germany."

The company's frontline workers at its Beijing and Changzhou factories, including ex-servicemen and fresh graduates, are paid 30% higher than the local factory sector average, according to Li.

($1 = 7.1980 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Susan Fenton)

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** Piper Sandler says Pinterest's PINS.O new advertising formats could potentially drive revenue growth in 2024

** Notes, the image-sharing platform's outbound ad clicks in Sept. more than tripled month-on-month basis, with cost per click down ~60% - brokerage's data

** PINS shares up 1.71% at $26.84 premarket

** Brokerage expects the rise in clicks is broadly tied to the co's new 'Direct Links' ad format, which brings users directly to a site in single click versus two clicks needed earlier

** Estimates up to two-thirds of all PINS ads can potentially become Direct Links

** "We expect advertisers to lean in and increase spend and sets the stage for revenue acceleration in 2024" - brokerage

** In August, PINS forecast higher margins for the year, supported by an advertising market recovery and cost-cutting measures

** PINS up 8.7% YTD, as of last close

(Reporting by Siddarth S in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))