Coupang Inc.’s stock was up by 9.1% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the Seattle-based e-commerce operator of online grocer Rocket Fresh beat analyst estimates for profit and revenue.
After the closing bell on Tuesday, Coupang
CPNG,
said its fourth-quarter net income moved up sharply to $1.03 billion, or 57 cents a share, from $102 million, or 6 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
The latest period included a non-cash tax benefit of $895 million from changes in tax-related reserves.
Coupang’s adjusted earnings of 8 cents a share beat the FactSet consensus estimate of 6 cents a share.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose by 23% to $6.56 billion, ahead of the analyst estimate of $6.4 billion.
“While we are pleased with the progress we made this quarter, we see even greater opportunity in front of us, as we represent just a single digit share of the vast retail spend in Korea, and even smaller in Taiwan,” said Gaurav Anand, the company’s financial chief, in a statement.
While Coupang is based in the U.S. it operates as an e-commerce platform in South Korea. It’s been backed by Softbank Group Corp.
9984,
since 2015.
Mizuho USA Securities analyst James Lee on Wednesday reiterated a neutral rating on Coupang and said the company “reported a good quarter with strong top-line growth and a convincing” beat of about 20% over Wall Street estimates for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Lee said the stock is already valued at a premium and it faces headwinds from struggles of its investor Softbank, but he remains “incrementally positive about the company’s category-leading position.”
Prior to Wednesday’s moves, the stock has risen 4.3% in 2024, compared to a 6.8% rise by the Nasdaq
COMP.
