Coupang faced its biggest crisis since its founding after recording an operating loss exceeding 850 billion won in the second quarter of this year alone. Unlike past "planned deficits" aimed at expanding the Rocket Delivery logistics network and securing customers, this loss stems from unexpected adverse events such as fines and taxes imposed by the government and a fire at a logistics center, marking a different nature. While sales growth was maintained, profitability deteriorated significantly, increasing the burden for future large-scale new investments.
According to the consolidated financial results report submitted by Coupang Inc. to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the 5th (Korean time), the operating loss in the second quarter of 2026 was 835 billion won ($556 million), marking a shift from profit to deficit compared to the same period last year. Net income for the period was recorded at 856 billion won ($570 million).
Coupang's operating loss and net loss in the second quarter of this year are the largest on a quarterly basis since its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. In particular, the operating loss surpassed the previous record high of $514.93 million in the second quarter of 2021.
With two consecutive quarters of large-scale deficits in the first and second quarters of this year, Coupang Inc.'s cumulative loss for the first half of the year has far exceeded 1 trillion won. Coupang Inc.'s operating loss and net loss for the first half of this year were recorded at 1.1895 trillion won and 1.2457 trillion won, respectively.
The operating loss in the first half of this year is close to the combined operating profit of 1.2813 trillion won from 2024 and 2025. The scale of net loss for the first half of the year exceeds three times the net income of 397 billion won over the past two years. This means that Coupang, which recorded losses for 10 years after its founding but turned to annual profitability from 2023, has effectively returned all the money it earned due to the personal information leak incident.
This is the first time Coupang Inc.'s first-half deficit has exceeded 1 trillion won. The previous maximum loss was 875 billion won in the first half of 2021, an increase of about 300 billion won from that figure. Even compared to Coupang's maximum operating loss before listing, which was 1.97 trillion won recorded annually in 2018, the scale of this loss is larger.
Coupang's second-quarter results were at the level of an "earnings shock," worse than market forecasts predicting losses in the 500th billion to 600 billion won range. Even excluding the 624.7 billion won fine imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission in June as a sanction for the information leak incident, an additional loss of 219.2 billion won was incurred. A significant portion of this is reportedly used for promotional costs to attract "Talpang-jok" (former Coupang employees who left) back to the company. Ultimately, it means that more than 1 trillion won in costs were invested just in the first half of this year due to the information leak incident.
This is not the first time Coupang has stumbled due to fines. In 2024, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 162.8 billion won on suspicion of manipulating search algorithms, which was reflected in the second-quarter results of that year, recording an operating loss of 34.2 billion won at the time. However, the amount of fines decided by the Personal Information Protection Commission this time is more than three times larger than that, representing the largest scale in the country, causing significant shock. For Coupang, which had a quarterly operating profit margin of around 1-2% for some time, it is difficult to recover even if sales volume increases in the short term.
Coupang's profitability in the second half of this year has also turned red. Considering the back taxes collected by the National Tax Service and recent fire damage, the additional costs that need to be borne are expected to be substantial.
On this day, Coupang Inc. stated that the National Tax Service sent a tax investigation notice requesting an additional payment of 280 million dollars (approximately 300 billion won), including surcharges and interest, through a tax investigation into the corporate income tax and value-added tax declaration contents between Coupang Corporation and Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS). While Coupang Inc. has warned of a non-acceptance procedure, it is structured to pay first and then recover through legal litigation, which could act as bad news for short-term results.
Coupang plans to reflect the costs related to last month's fire at the Incheon logistics center in the third-quarter results. Coupang estimated that the scale of related losses would be 246 million dollars (approximately 350 billion won), considering the inventory and fixed asset values held at the facility before the fire occurred. Although the facility is insured and insurance money can be received in 2-3 years, it is expected to be difficult to fully compensate for the loss amount considering past cases.
Additional fines that Coupang must pay have also been announced. The Fair Trade Commission rejected a request for an agreement on a mutual benefit plan of 60 billion won regarding the suspicion of "most-favored-nation" demands by Coupang Eats and has begun deliberation procedures to decide on imposing fines, among other measures. It is reported that the Korea Fair Trade Commission expressed the opinion that a fine of 25 billion to 42 billion won should be imposed for most-favored-nation demands.
Additionally, there is a possibility that the Korea Fair Trade Commission will begin procedures to impose fines in the second half of this year regarding the suspicion of "bundling" where Coupang Eats was linked to Wow Membership, forcing users to use the delivery app service. Some industry observers predict that considering the scale of related sales, a fine of up to 200 billion won may be imposed.
As a result, it is pointed out that after recording a deficit in the range of 1 trillion won in the first half of this year, Coupang faces additional loss risks of up to 1 trillion won, including additional fines and fire damage costs.
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