Shares of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. (CPNG, Financial) closed at $49.65 on Thursday, up approximately 40% from its initial public offering price of $35 on the first day of trading. On Friday, the stock opened at $52.54.
According to CNBC, Coupang received early interest from investing gurus Stanley Druckenmiller (Trades, Portfolio) and Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio). The business news platform added that Ackman had invested personally in the company in the past, according to a Reuters report in 2014.
Company background
CEO Bom Kim founded the company in 2010 with the mission to "make users question how people ever lived without Coupang." According to the company's website, Coupang offers services like same-day and next-morning delivery of groceries and merchandise, delivery of take-out food through Coupang Eats and video streaming through Coupang Play.
In 2019, Coupang launched its "Rocket WOW" membership program, which allows for free shipping for products available on the company's "Rocket Delivery" platform. The platform allows the company to deliver millions of products in hours through the same-day and "Dawn Delivery" services.
Advisor to Druckenmiller discloses stake in Coupang
Kevin Warsh, an advisor of Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office and former Federal Reverse governor, disclosed a holding of 280,662 shares in Coupang according to the company's S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Warsh joined Coupang's board of directors in October 2019, saying that the e-commerce company is "at the frontier of innovation" and that the company has a strong growth profile.
Company financial summary
For the year ending December 2020, Coupang reported net revenue of $11.967 billion, operating loss of $527 million and net loss of $474 million, compared with revenue of $6.274 billion, operating loss of $643 million and net loss of $698 million for the year ending December 2019.
During the fourth quarter, the company reported net revenues of $256 per active customer, up from net revenues of $161 during the prior-year quarter. Active customers increased to 14.8 million as of fourth-quarter 2020 from 11.8 million as of fourth-quarter 2019.
As of December 2020, Coupang has approximately $1.25 billion in cash and cash equivalents yet $2.24 billion in debt.
Disclosure: No positions.
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