The company posted its third consecutive quarterly operating loss in 2026 despite revenue exceeding $10 billion.
Third-quarter sales rose 7 percent and active customers increased 2 percent from a year earlier, its press release on Tuesday showed. Operating losses reached $450 million, with the company remaining in the red without counting costs from a warehouse fire.
Coupang Inc., the New York-listed parent of the South Korea's dominant e-commerce operator, reported revenue of $9.962 billion for the July–September period. Excluding currency movements, revenue grew 11 percent, exceeding the company’s forecast of 8 to 9 percent.
Share of New York-trading Coupang (CPNG) ended Tuesday 3.6 percent higher at $15.23, more than halved around $32 before the data fallout.
The operating loss of $450 million reversed a $162 million profit a year earlier. Net losses attributable to shareholders reached $501 million against a profit of $95 million.
The results offer a mixed assessment of Coupang’s performance since the breach disclosed last November involving unauthorized access to more than 33 million customer accounts.
The company previously acknowledged that the incident hurt revenue growth, active customer numbers, paid WOW memberships and profitability beginning in December.
A July fire at Coupang’s leased fulfillment center in Incheon accounted for $248 million in quarterly charges. Even without those costs, the company would have posted an operating loss of $202 million.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 72 percent to $116 million. The corresponding margin narrowed to 1.2 percent from 4.5 percent a year earlier.
The core shopping business showed the same divergence between sales growth and profitability.
Product Commerce revenue increased 5 percent to $8.374 billion, or 8 percent when currency movements were excluded. Active customers reached 25.2 million from 24.7 million a year earlier, while quarterly revenue per active customer rose 3 percent to $332.
Yet the division’s adjusted EBITDA fell 45 percent to $385 million. Its margin dropped to 4.6 percent from about 8.8 percent, indicating that a larger customer base and higher spending had not translated into stronger earnings.
Developing Offerings, which includes Taiwan operations, Coupang Eats and Farfetch, delivered faster growth. Revenue increased 23 percent to $1.588 billion, while its adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $269 million from $292 million.
For the first nine months of 2026, Coupang generated revenue of $27.322 billion but accumulated an operating loss of $1.248 billion - a stark contrast to an operating profit of $465 million a year earlier.
Net losses attributable to shareholders totaled $1.337 billion.
The nine-month operating loss included $410 million in certain administrative fines and the $248 million fire charge. Excluding both, the company still recorded an adjusted operating loss of $590 million.
Cash generation also weakened. Third-quarter operating cash flow fell 73 percent to $212 million, while free cash flow turned negative at $72 million against a positive $442 million a year earlier.
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