Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Nomura lowered their price target on shares of Coupang from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Coupang from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Coupang from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coupang from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Coupang from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.70.

Coupang Price Performance

Shares of CPNG stock opened at $18.46 on Friday. Coupang has a 12 month low of $16.74 and a 12 month high of $34.08. The company has a market capitalization of $33.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.80 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $8.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. Coupang had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 4.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Coupang will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Neil Mehta acquired 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.68 per share, with a total value of $56,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 52,978,114 shares in the company, valued at $989,631,169.52. The trade was a 6.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jonathan D. Lee sold 2,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total transaction of $63,277.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 122,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,883,907.52. This represents a 2.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 7,350,104 shares of company stock valued at $136,566,051. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coupang

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coupang during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Coupang in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coupang in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Coupang during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Coupang by 1,250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Coupang

Here are the key news stories impacting Coupang this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Neil Mehta bought a total of ~7.35 million CPNG shares across March 11–13 (~$18.40–$18.68 per share), representing roughly $136.5M of purchases and boosting his stake to ~55.3M shares — a strong insider vote of confidence that can support the stock. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ reactions after Q4 are mixed — some note improving revenue growth but others highlight margin/earnings pressure and differing price targets, leaving near-term sentiment uncertain. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlights elevated investor attention and mixed valuation signals — some argue recent share weakness creates an undervaluation opportunity, while others point to execution risks. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term headwinds remain: recent quarterly results missed consensus on EPS and revenue, margins are thin and the stock trades below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages with a high trailing P/E, which can keep downward pressure absent clearer improvement in fundamentals. (Reference: analyst coverage and company Q4 commentary linked above.)

About Coupang

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.