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View the full Nov 4, 2026 version

Price: $14.37 → $15.99(+11.3%)
Next earnings: Nov 3, 2026 → Feb 3, 2027
Next earnings is estimate: No → Yes
About: Coupang is the largest online retailer in South Korea. It is a US company, based in Seattle, but almost all of its sales come from Korea. It reports two segments. Product Commerce sells goods online, mostly from its own inventory, and delivers them fast through its own network of fulfillment centers and drivers; it had removed: 24.7 added: 25.2 million active customers in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026. Developing Offerings includes Eats food delivery in Korea, Rocket Now delivery in Japan, Play streaming, fintech, retail in Taiwan and Farfetch, the luxury fashion platform. Coupang makes money mainly from the margin on goods it sells, from fees that third-party sellers pay, from advertising and from its paid WOW membership. It reports in US dollars, so a weaker Korean won lowers its reported revenue.
Thesis: The market prices Coupang at a discount because a data breach damaged its profits and its relations with the Korean government. In November 2025, Coupang found that a former employee had accessed customer accounts. It gave customers about $1.2 billion of purchase vouchers, which lowered revenue until mid-April 2026. In June 2026, Korea's data protection regulator announced fines of about $410 removed: million, and added: million. Coupang removed: must pay added: appeals them removed: while added: in court, and in October 2026 the regulator let it removed: appeals. added: pay them in six installments over two years. Profit fell at the same time: removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026 adjusted EBITDA was removed: $163 added: $116 million, a removed: 1.8% added: 1.2% margin against removed: 5.0% added: 4.5% a year earlier, and removed: management guided added: the July 2026 warehouse fire added $248 million of losses. Sales recover faster than profit: constant-currency revenue grew 11% in Q3 removed: margins 3 added: 2026, and Coupang guides 13% to removed: 4 points lower than a year earlier. added: 14% for Q4 2026. It removed: now added: still expects removed: full margin recovery only added: Product Commerce margins near their level before the breach around mid-2027. Investors also fear more Korean regulation, and a weaker won lowers reported growth. For the gap to close, margins must recover toward the 5% adjusted EBITDA margin of 2025, constant-currency revenue growth must stay near removed: 8% to 10%, added: 10% or more, active customers must keep growing, and no new large fine or rule must hit the business. The removed: Q3 added: Q4 2026 report, expected in early removed: November 2026, shows added: February 2027, must show the removed: low point in margins and the cost added: guided margin rise of removed: the July 2026 warehouse fire. added: 0.5 to 1.5 points from Q3. The removed: Q4 report in February 2027 and the Q2 2027 report removed: show added: shows whether the mid-2027 recovery is on track. If margins recover on time, the gap can close over the next three to five quarters. The main risk is that the Korean government keeps acting against Coupang, which raises costs for years.
Risks: Korean regulation. After the November 2025 data breach, the data regulator announced about $410 million of fines in June removed: 2026, added: 2026. Coupang appeals them and removed: the added: can pay them in six installments over two years. The Korea Fair Trade Commission has older cases against Coupang. In September 2026, the commission charged Coupang with obstruction after it refused an on-site inspection, and lawmakers criticized the company in October 2026. More fines, rules on delivery work or platform rules can raise costs. A US securities class action about the breach is also pending. Margins fell sharply. The adjusted EBITDA margin was removed: 1.8% added: 1.2% in removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026, removed: and management guided added: against 4.5% a removed: lower margin again in Q3. It added: year earlier. Management expects removed: full recovery added: Product Commerce margins near their level before the breach only around mid-2027. Trailing 12-month free cash flow removed: fell to $105 added: was minus $409 million at removed: June added: September 30, 2026, removed: from $784 added: against $1,268 million a year earlier. Currency. Almost all sales are in Korean won, but Coupang reports in US dollars. In removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026, revenue grew removed: 10% added: 11% at constant currency and only removed: 4% added: 7% in dollars. The Korea Fair Trade Commission is investigating whether bundling Eats benefits with the WOW membership breaks the law. If it does, Coupang can get a fine and may have to sell the Eats benefit separately, which can make the membership less attractive. Operations. The July 2026 fire at the Incheon fulfillment center removed: adds added: caused $248 million of losses removed: from added: in Q3 removed: 2026, and the full cost is added: 2026. Coupang has not removed: known yet. added: recorded insurance recoveries yet, and more costs can come. Coupang also keeps investing in loss-making units such as Taiwan, Coupang Eats and removed: Farfetch. added: Farfetch, and in November 2026 it raised the top of its 2026 loss guide for these units.
Balance sheet: Cash: removed: $6.1B added: $5.4B Debt: removed: $2.6B added: $1.8B Net cash: removed: $3.5B added: $3.7B Debt due within 12 months: removed: $2.0B added: $1.1B Coupang has more cash than debt. At removed: June added: September 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents were removed: $6,110 added: $5,444 million, and debt was removed: $1,985 added: $988 million of short-term removed: borrowings added: borrowings, $119 million of current long-term debt and removed: $618 added: $654 million of long-term debt. Short-term borrowings removed: rose added: fell from removed: $960 added: $1,985 million at removed: December 31, 2025. added: June 30, 2026, because Coupang repaid the $750 million that it had borrowed on its revolving credit facility. Debt excludes removed: $3,030 added: $3,296 million of operating lease obligations for fulfillment centers and other sites. Accounts payable to suppliers were removed: $6,328 added: $7,532 million, so the business runs on supplier credit. removed: Accrued expenses added: Other current liabilities include the added: unpaid $410 million removed: accrual for the added: of Korean fines, which Coupang removed: must added: can pay removed: while it appeals. added: in six installments over two years. Coupang had added: $2.2 billion available under its credit facilities at September 30, 2026. It had an operating loss in the first removed: half added: nine months of 2026, so interest cover does not apply. Coupang bought back removed: $459 added: $1,051 million of shares in removed: Q2 added: the first nine months of 2026, while trailing 12-month free cash flow fell to removed: $105 added: minus $409 million. As of removed: Jun added: Sep 30, 2026.
Checkpoints: Nov 3, 2026: Q3 2026 results: margin low point and fire costs. removed: Pending. added: Passed. Watch: Constant-currency revenue growth of 8% or more and a margin decline within the guided 3 to 4 points pass; a larger margin decline or slower growth fails. added: Outcome: Constant-currency revenue grew 11%, and the adjusted EBITDA margin fell 3.3 points to 1.2%, inside the guided 3 to 4 points. Feb added: 3, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 results and 2027 outlook. Pending. Watch: An adjusted EBITDA margin removed: that rises from added: 0.5 to 1.5 points above the 1.2% of Q3 added: 2026, constant-currency revenue growth of 13% or more and a plan that keeps the mid-2027 recovery removed: passes; added: pass; a added: margin at or below Q3 or a later recovery date fails. Aug 2027 (estimate): Q2 2027 results: full margin recovery. Pending. Watch: An adjusted EBITDA margin near the 5% of Q2 2025 passes; a margin still near 2% fails.
Recent events: added: Nov 3, 2026: Coupang reported Q3 2026 results. Revenue was $10.0 billion, up 7% and up 11% at constant currency, above its guide of 8% to 9%. Operating loss was $450 million, including $248 million of losses from the July 2026 fire. Adjusted EBITDA was $116 million, a 1.2% margin against 4.5% a year earlier. Product Commerce active customers grew 2% to 25.2 million. Trailing 12-month free cash flow was minus $409 million. Coupang bought back 12.7 million shares for $201 million. For Q4 2026, it guided constant-currency revenue growth of 13% to 14% and an adjusted EBITDA margin 0.5 to 1.5 points higher than in Q3. It raised the top of its 2026 loss guide for Developing Offerings by $50 million to $100 million, mainly for Taiwan. Its 10-Q says that on October 8, 2026, the data regulator let Coupang pay the fines in six installments over two years. Oct 12, 2026: At the parliamentary audit of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, lawmakers of both main parties criticized Coupang for refusing the commission's on-site inspection. Coupang said that it used its procedural rights. Oct 8, 2026: Coupang filed two lawsuits in the Seoul Administrative Court to cancel the data protection fines of 624.7 billion won, and it asked the court to suspend the fines while the cases run, Korean press reported. Sep 30, 2026: The Korea Fair Trade Commission sent Coupang a report that charges it with obstruction of an investigation, because Coupang refused an on-site inspection in August 2026. The maximum fine for a first offense is 100 million won, about $74,000, but the case adds to the conflict with the regulator. Sep 23, 2026: A Korean court rejected Coupang's request to stop the Korea Fair Trade Commission's on-site inspection of its dealings with suppliers. A court had suspended the inspection for a short time in August. Coupang appealed, and the commission's chair said that the inspection will continue. Aug 4, 2026: Coupang reported Q2 2026 results. Revenue was $8.9 billion, up 4% and up 10% at constant currency. Operating loss was $556 million, including about $410 million of Korean fines. Adjusted EBITDA was $163 million, a 1.8% margin. Coupang bought back 23.2 million shares for $459 million. It guided Q3 constant-currency revenue growth of 8% to 9% and an adjusted EBITDA margin 3 to 4 points lower than a year earlier, and said that it expects full margin recovery around mid-2027. The stock fell after the report. Jul 20, 2026: A fire in July 2026 damaged a leased Coupang fulfillment center in Incheon, Korea. Coupang said that the inventory and fixed assets at the site, with its obligation to sellers for their goods there, were worth about $246 million. It will claim insurance and record losses from Q3 2026, and it said that the fire did not materially affect Q3 revenue. Jul 14, 2026: Reuters reported that a South Korean court suspended the Korea Fair Trade Commission's designation of founder Bom Kim as the controlling person of Coupang. Jul 2, 2026: A US House report accused South Korea of targeting Coupang after the data breach. South Korea disputed the report. Jun 10, 2026: Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission announced a fine of about $278 million on Coupang Corp. for the data breach, and a separate fine of about $132 million over data from a third-party advertising program. Coupang said that it will appeal in the Seoul Administrative Court. The stock had its best day since late 2022, because the fine was smaller than investors feared. May 5, 2026: Coupang reported Q1 2026 results with a net loss of about $242 million, and it warned of slower growth. The stock fell about 7% after the report.