Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) spent the first half of 2026 pulling in two directions. Its core shopping business started growing faster again, while the profits underneath it got thinner. Retail revenue grew 8% in constant currency (stripping out exchange-rate swings) in the second quarter, up from 5% in the first. Yet adjusted EBITDA came to just $163 million on roughly $8.9 billion of revenue.
That’s a strange mix for a company often described as South Korea’s answer to Amazon. Coupang sells groceries, electronics, and household goods through its app, delivered through its Rocket Delivery network. Around that core sits a cluster of newer bets, including the Coupang Eats food-delivery app, the Coupang Play streaming service, and luxury marketplace Farfetch. That pullback and high-growth potential have placed it among the 10 Best 52-Week Low Technology Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. Still, whether its premium price makes sense depends less on whether shoppers came back than on whether the margins follow them.
Shoppers Didn’t Leave
The real test of Coupang’s moat arrived late last year. The company disclosed that a former employee had accessed basic data, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers, tied to roughly 33 million accounts. Coupang notified 33.7 million customer accounts and set aside 1.685 trillion won in purchase vouchers as compensation.
A breach that size could have sent shoppers elsewhere. Instead, active customers in the retail segment rose to 24.7 million in the second quarter, up from 23.9 million in the first. Spending per customer climbed too, with revenue per active customer up 5% in constant currency to $321. That stickiness looks a lot like the habit loop behind Amazon’s Prime ecosystem, where convenience keeps people ordering even after a bad headline.
The Side Bets Keep Growing
Coupang’s Developing Offerings segment, which houses Eats, Play, and Farfetch, brought in about $1.4 billion in the second quarter, up 24% in constant currency. Its adjusted EBITDA loss of $219 million was still large, though it improved by $16 million from a year earlier.
This is where the long-term bull case lives. If these businesses scale the way the core did, Coupang becomes a broader consumer platform rather than just a retailer, the same platform ambition that draws investors to MercadoLibre in Latin America. For now, though, they consume profit rather than add to it.
Where Did the Profit Go?
Here’s the uncomfortable part. Gross margin slipped to 28.2%, down 188 basis points from a year earlier. The retail segment’s adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 5.1%, down 390 basis points, and the company-wide margin dropped to 1.8% from 5.0%. Free cash flow over the trailing twelve months shrank to $105 million, down $679 million.
GAAP results looked worse still. Coupang posted an operating loss of $556 million, but about $410 million of that came from administrative fines in Korea. Without them, the loss was $146 million.
So the objection has teeth. The fines look like one-time charges, and adjusted EBITDA did recover from just $29 million in the first quarter. But a business growing at high single digits with a margin under 2% hasn’t yet proven that scale turns into profit again.
Paying Up for a Recovery
At 69.44 times forward earnings, as of October 9, investors are paying about $69 for every $1 of profit Wall Street expects Coupang to earn. The typical company in its sector trades at 14.77 times. That’s a steep premium for a business whose margins are moving the wrong way.
Context softens the picture, though. Coupang’s 5-year historical average P/E sits at 183.34, so today’s multiple is far below what investors have been willing to pay for this stock in the past. The premium has shrunk, even if it hasn’t disappeared.
The forward multiple is betting that margins return toward their earlier levels. If they don’t, the stock remains firmly among growth stocks priced for a rebound, though its sub-$50 share price and strong market position continue to make it one of the 10 Best US Stocks to Buy Under $50.
Management seems to believe the rebound is coming. Coupang repurchased $850 million of its own stock in the first half of the year, including $459 million in the second quarter. Hedge fund interest has been rising, with 97 funds holding the stock in the most recent quarter, up from 86 in the prior one. Short interest stands at 6.16% of the float, a moderate level of bearish positioning.
Growth Is Back. Profit Isn’t.
The evidence suggests the customer side of Coupang’s moat held up through a serious breach, and growth is picking up again. What it doesn’t yet show is a path back to healthy margins. That makes the stock better suited to patient growth investors who can tolerate a few more lean quarters. If coming results show margins widening while customer growth holds, today’s multiple could look reasonable. Another quarter of shrinking margins alongside faster sales would make it much harder to justify.
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