Coupang: Dust Settling (Ticker: CPNG)

I believe we have witnessed a mass psychosis event.

Today, paid subscribers of Emerging Moats research are receiving my updated thoughts on Coupang. Here is my current writing schedule for the second quarter. I plan to write full research reports on MercadoLibre, Nelnet, Nu Holdings, and Corporacion America Airports.

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“During Q4 of 2025, Coupang became aware of a data incident involving a former employee that illegally accessed data from over 33 million user accounts and retained data from approximately 3,000 user accounts. Third-party cybersecurity expert firms, including Mandiant and Palo Alto Networks, have conducted a comprehensive forensic investigation and confirmed that the customer data accessed was limited to basic contact and order information: names, email addresses, phone numbers, delivery addresses, and limited order histories. Building lobby codes were accessed for 2,609 Korean user accounts. No financial or payment card data, no login credentials or passwords, and no government-issued IDs were accessed. To date, there have been no confirmed instances of any of this customer data being exploited or of any secondary harm to customers related to this incident.” - Q4 2025 Letter to Shareholders

The last few months have been interesting, to say the least, as a Coupang bagholder. Any longtime reader (or listener to the podcast) knows I have been fascinated by this company since its IPO. I remember distinctly reading the S-1 and thinking, “Damn, I need to own this.” By early 2024, the opportunity was there to strike at a dirt cheap valuation, and it has remained one of my largest positions to this day.

In late summer, I thought 2025 looked to be another banner year. Users kept growing, revenue kept compounding, unit economics looked strong, and profit margins in the core business were expanding, while reinvestment in new ventures (food delivery, Taiwan, fashion, and advertising/streaming) continued to show promise, even though it would hurt consolidated cash flow in the interim. No worries, Coupang’s core business has enough juice – along with a healthy balance sheet – to give the business optionality to invest on a multi-year time horizon. Stock peaking its head above $30? Let’s keep the party going.

By January of this year, shares had fallen 50%, wiping out most of my gains in the last two years. Panic had ensnared both the Korean public and its government, with news stories hitting the international wires that made it seem on the verge of collapse. Investors naturally decided to dump their shares without actually verifying what happened.

I believe this has ended up as a mass psychosis event for both South Koreans and the investment community. It has provided us (yet again) an opportunity to buy Coupang at a cheap valuation.

In this quarterly update, paying subscribers to Emerging Moats will read:

• Data breach psychosis

• Quarterly numbers

• Long-term growth opportunity?

• Is there still an emerging moat?

• My investment decision (and trades for the week)

Let’s dig in.

Data breach psychosis