Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to address an employee-driven data incident, outline progress in newer growth initiatives such as Taiwan, and discuss a slower finish to the year in its core Korean commerce business that management said appeared tied to customer reaction in December.
Management details scope of data incident and remediation
Founder and CEO Bom Kim opened by apologizing to customers and emphasizing that trust remains central to Coupang’s strategy. General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer H.L. Rogers, who also serves as interim CEO of Coupang’s Korean subsidiary, provided an update on the incident previously disclosed in late 2025.
According to Rogers, the investigation found the accessed information was limited to basic contact and order information, including names, emails, phone numbers, delivery addresses, and limited order history. Building lobby codes were accessed for 2,609 Korean user accounts. Rogers said forensic experts confirmed no “highly sensitive data” was accessed, stating that no financial data, passwords, or government-issued IDs were compromised.
Rogers said Mandiant’s forensic evidence was consistent with the conclusion that the former employee later deleted the retained data and that there was no evidence it had been viewed by anyone else. He added there have been “0 confirmed instances” of customer data being exploited, and that external monitoring efforts—including dark web and deep web monitoring—had not detected misuse or appearance of Coupang user data attributable to the incident. Rogers also said Korean authorities indicated they had found no evidence of misuse or secondary harm to date.
Palo Alto Networks concluded, Rogers said, that Coupang’s security controls were aligned with industry standards and that the incident resulted from a targeted attack by a malicious former employee who exploited a valid software development process, rather than a systemic security failure. The company said it remediated the method used to access the system in November 2025.
Rogers noted customer behavior in the immediate aftermath included removing saved payment methods, changing passwords, and, in some cases, deleting accounts. He said those trends later stabilized and began to recover as more facts emerged.
Coupang also announced a customer compensation program to issue approximately $1.2 billion in vouchers to notified customers, redeemable for future purchases beginning Jan. 15. Rogers said investigations by Korean agencies remain ongoing and that it is “too early” to determine whether fines or other actions may result.
Core Product Commerce results slow late in quarter
CFO Gaurav Anand said Product Commerce segment net revenue was $7.4 billion, up 8% year over year, or 12% on a constant-currency basis. That marked a slowdown from the 18% constant-currency growth rate reported in the prior quarter, which Anand attributed primarily to a December slowdown that “appears related to the data incident,” with a smaller impact from the timing of the Chuseok holiday shifting between quarters.
Product Commerce active customers were 24.6 million, up 8% year over year but slightly below 24.7 million reported in the prior quarter. Anand said the quarter-over-quarter decline in active customers also appeared tied to the data incident, but that trends had stabilized since the end of Q4, with many customers reactivating accounts.
On WOW membership, Anand said most members retained their subscriptions and that WOW members’ fourth-quarter spending increased double digits year over year. However, he noted a slight year-over-year decrease in total WOW members due to elevated churn in December that appeared related to the incident. He said churn and new sign-ups later returned to “historical stable levels.”
Segment gross profit was $2.4 billion, up 5% year over year, or 9% on a constant-currency basis. Anand said that growth was affected by slower revenue growth in December and referenced a non-recurring fire insurance gain recorded in the year-ago quarter. He said adjusted gross profit growth in constant currency was 15% and outpaced revenue growth, driven by faster growth in marketplace offerings, including FLC, relative to first-party retail.
Product Commerce gross margin was 31.9%, contracting more than 80 basis points year over year, but Anand said that excluding the fire insurance gain, margins improved 85 basis points, citing operational efficiencies and mix shifts toward margin-accretive categories. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $567 million, up 5% year over year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.7%.
Developing Offerings led by Taiwan hypergrowth; investments continue
In Developing Offerings, Coupang reported record segment net revenue of $1.4 billion, up 32% year over year, or 31% on a constant-currency basis. Anand said Taiwan again delivered triple-digit year-over-year revenue growth. He also noted a “moderate” impact on Eats growth following the data incident, but said those trends had stabilized and improved.
Developing Offerings generated $183 million in gross profit, down 24% year over year, as the company continued investing in early-stage businesses. Segment adjusted EBITDA losses were $300 million in Q4, contributing to full-year losses of $995 million, according to Anand.
Kim highlighted operational progress in Taiwan, saying the company’s self-built last-mile logistics network now covers nearly 70% of the geography. He said roughly 75% of December volume was delivered next day through Coupang’s own last-mile network, with consistent service and no significant increase in variable unit costs. He cautioned that growth rates may not be linear because the company is building physical retail, fulfillment, and logistics capabilities rather than operating a purely digital marketplace.
Kim also said Coupang remains encouraged by Eats in Korea and early learnings from Rocket Now food delivery in Japan, noting promising retention and engagement trends across cohorts. He added that Farfetch delivered its first quarter of positive year-over-year revenue growth since Coupang’s acquisition and had “positive overall economics,” according to management.
Consolidated results, cash flow, and 2026 outlook
On a consolidated basis, Coupang reported total net revenues of $8.8 billion, up 11% year over year on a reported basis and 14% in constant currency. Consolidated gross profit was $2.5 billion, up 2% year over year (5% constant currency). Gross margin was 28.8%, down more than 100 basis points year over year, with Anand citing short-term demand changes and higher investment in Developing Offerings.
Operating income was $8 million, and net loss attributable to stockholders was $26 million, or a diluted loss per share of $0.01. Anand said the change in profitability was driven by higher investment in Developing Offerings and the short-term impacts discussed, while the net income shift also reflected an elevated effective tax rate tied to growing losses in Developing Offerings. He said the full-year effective tax rate was 64% and that the company continues to expect normalization toward about 25% over the long term.
Adjusted EBITDA was $267 million, down 37% year over year, with a 3% margin. For the full year, Coupang reported operating cash flow of $1.8 billion and free cash flow of $527 million. Anand said the nearly 50% year-over-year decline in free cash flow was predominantly due to the data incident’s working-capital impact in Q4 and higher capital expenditures.
Looking ahead, Anand said Coupang expects “muted trends” in growth and profitability over the next few months, with data incident impacts diminishing over the course of 2026, but with some unevenness in top-line growth. He said Product Commerce had been growing 16% in constant currency in the three months prior to December and estimated growth reached its lowest level in January at about 4% after adjusting for Lunar New Year timing, with improving indicators beginning in February. For Q1, Coupang expects consolidated constant-currency revenue growth of 5% to 10%.
Anand also said the company’s historical pattern of annual consolidated EBITDA margin expansion would be disrupted in 2026 due to dynamic Product Commerce trends, customer-support investments, and potential incident-related costs, though he emphasized these do not represent a structural change. For Developing Offerings, Coupang expects full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA losses between $950 million and $1 billion.
Q&A: AI, tech spending, and buybacks
In Q&A, management reiterated that it did not provide a specific estimate for the data incident’s direct financial impact in Q4, but emphasized stabilization in active customer and WOW trends and improving post-January indicators.
Asked about Taiwan’s timeline to positive unit economics, management said its focus remains on building a customer experience that “wows” users, with profitability expected to follow through scale and operating leverage once the foundation is built. On technology spending, management said Coupang’s cybersecurity spend has been among the top three in Korea over the past four years and that while the company will prioritize more of that spend toward cybersecurity, it does not expect a structural change in OG&A.
On capital returns, Anand said Coupang repurchased about 5.9 million shares during the quarter under its existing authorization. He added that of the board-approved $1 billion program, $243 million had been utilized to date, with the company planning to remain “disciplined and opportunistic” as it balances buybacks with other strategic priorities.
About Coupang (NYSE:CPNG)
Coupang, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CPNG, is a South Korean e-commerce company headquartered in Seoul. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company grew rapidly by combining an online marketplace with a large direct-retail business model. Coupang completed a primary listing in the United States in 2021, and it has become one of South Korea’s leading online retailers by focusing on convenience, speed and a wide product assortment across consumer categories.
The company operates a vertically integrated e-commerce platform that includes a customer-facing marketplace and an extensive logistics and fulfillment network.
