SEOUL, May 06 (AJP) -Coupang, grappling with eroding confidence among South Korean regulators and consumers following a major data breach late last year, saw its largest quarterly loss in more than four years as revenue growth sharply slowed in the first quarter.
The New York-listed company on Tuesday reported an operating loss of $242 million for the January-March period, reversing from a $154 million profit a year earlier and the red nearly wiping out half of its annual income of 2025 . Net loss attributable to shareholders widened to $266 million, marking Coupang’s weakest quarterly bottom line since the fourth quarter of 2021.
Revenue rose 8 percent on year to $8.5 billion, extending a sharp deceleration from the double-digit expansion that had long defined the company’s rise since 2021 listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The disappointing quarter came as the Korea Fair Trade Commission redesignated Bom Kim as Coupang’s “identical person,” or controlling shareholder, replacing the previous corporate designation after concluding that Kim’s younger brother, Kim Yoo-suk, exercised meaningful influence within the group.
The KFTC said Kim Yoo-suk, who holds a vice president-level role, receives compensation comparable to registered executives and exerts influence over parts of the company’s operations, undermining Coupang’s eligibility to maintain a corporate entity as its controlling designation.
The change places greater direct accountability on Bom Kim at a sensitive moment for the company, which has faced intensifying criticism over governance, labor conditions, platform dominance and consumer protection issues.
The earnings deterioration was largely tied to the aftermath of one of Korea’s most serious e-commerce data breaches.
Coupang had rolled out a customer compensation program worth roughly $1.2 billion in shopping credits after leaked personal information triggered regulatory probes and consumer lawsuits.
The company said the compensation credits were deducted directly from sales, weighing heavily on revenue and profitability throughout the quarter. The credits expired on April 15.
At the same time, growth in Coupang’s flagship Product Commerce division continued to slow. Sales in the segment, which includes Rocket Delivery and Rocket Fresh, rose just 4 percent from a year earlier to $7.2 billion, sharply down from 12 percent growth in the previous quarter.
Gross margin fell to 27 percent from 29.3 percent a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA plunged 92 percent to $29 million. Total operating expenses reached $8.75 billion, exceeding quarterly revenue.
Customer indicators also showed signs of strain. Active customers rose only 2 percent on-year to 23.9 million and fell by roughly 700,000 from the previous quarter.
The slowdown extended to Coupang’s prized WOW membership ecosystem, long viewed as the company’s strongest loyalty engine. Industry observers have closely monitored whether the data breach and repeated controversy surrounding platform practices would weaken retention among high-frequency users.
Bom Kim nevertheless sought to reassure investors that customer loyalty and spending trends remained resilient.
“Customers cast a new vote with every purchase they make,” Kim said during an earnings call, arguing that consumers “will not hesitate to spend their money at another venue they deem to be better.”
Kim emphasized that Coupang intended to respond by further expanding infrastructure investment, delivery coverage and WOW membership benefits.
“We’ll be relentless in our pursuit of new moments of WOW for customers across selection, price and service,” he said.
The company said it planned to expand WOW-related customer benefits to more than $4 billion this year, including free delivery, returns and streaming-linked perks.
Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Anand also attempted to calm investor concerns over slowing growth and mounting external pressure, arguing that Coupang’s longer-term profitability trajectory remained intact despite short-term disruptions.
“We believe we are still far from realizing the full margin potential of our business,” Anand said, adding that the company remained “confident in our ability to continue expanding consolidated margins.”
Anand also defended the company’s aggressive investment strategy, saying Coupang continued to see strong returns from logistics optimization, advertising and fulfillment services for third-party merchants.
He described shareholder returns as another priority, noting that the company continued evaluating stock repurchases and capital allocation opportunities “to drive long-term returns for shareholders.”
While neither Kim nor Anand directly addressed the KFTC’s redesignation during the earnings call, the regulatory decision hovered over the results as investors weighed whether tighter scrutiny around governance and market dominance could further complicate Coupang’s expansion plans.
Coupang and its logistics affiliates remain under repeated investigation by regulators and lawmakers over alleged unfair trade practices, warehouse safety issues and treatment of delivery workers.
Despite the losses, Coupang continued aggressive shareholder returns, repurchasing 20.4 million shares worth $391 million during the quarter. Its board also approved an additional $1 billion stock buyback program.
Wall Street expectations had projected a far narrower operating loss of around $39 million, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. Coupang shares initially fell in after-hours trading following the earnings release before recovering part of the losses.
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