Coupang share price volatile following blockbuster IPO
‘How did we ever live without Coupang?’
Better than Amazon?
To say that expectations for Coupang – the now $83 billion e-commerce giant – are elevated, may be understating it somewhat.
‘Coupang Is the Amazon.com of South Korea, but Maybe Even Better,’ wrote Eric J. Savitz from Barron’s.
A lofty comparison given Amazon’s relentless innovation, profitability and staying power. Not to mention its status as one of the world’s most valuable publicly listed companies.
Coupang’s also been attached to a number of high-profile investors, including Bill Ackman and Stanley Druckenmiller.
Masayoshi Son's SoftBank has made significant paper profits on their investment in the e-commerce player. SoftBank owns a 35% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg.
And to be fair, as the company notes in its own prospectus, it is already the largest e-commerce player in Korea.
Coupang share price: A volatile two sessions
Coupang saw its share price surge over 40% on its first day as a public company, finishing out last Thursday's session at $49.25 per share. The company had an IPO price of $35 per share.
In just two sessions, Coupang has already experienced significant levels of volatility. After trading as high as $69.00 per share, before hitting a low of $46.25 per shares.
Coupang last traded at $48.47 – implying a market capitalisation of $83 billion.
Coupang IPO: The Fundamentals
‘We are building the future of commerce.’
Despite already having a commanding presence in Korea, Coupang has its eyes set on the future.
‘While we have achieved significant scale, Coupang remains a small percentage of the total retail, grocery, consumer foodservice, and travel spend in the Korean market.’
The company estimates that the total value of those markets is expected to hit $534 billion by 2024; of which, e-commerce is expected to make up $206 billion of that estimate.
Indeed, Coupang already operates at a significant scale, reporting revenues of approximately $12.0 billion in 2020, representing a 90.8% increase on the year prior. Gross profits grew in step, rising 92.3% to hit $2.0 billion.
And the company's operating loss even tightened in the last year, coming in at negative $0.5 billion, opposed to a loss of $0.6 billion in 2019.
Looking forward, the company's CEO, Bom Suk Kim said:
'We are still far from realising the world we envision. We remain as energised as ever to transform the lives of every customer, employee, and merchant we touch, and to create a world where everyone wonders: How did we ever live without Coupang?'
Trade some of the most exciting stocks with IG – long and short today
Create an IG account or log in to your existing account to get started now.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Ltd and IG Markets South Africa Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only
