US-based e-commerce giant Coupang announced a net loss in the first quarter following a significant customer data breach in South Korea. The company reported a net deficit of $266 million, a stark contrast to the $114 million net profit recorded a year earlier. Additionally, Coupang’s operating loss amounted to $242 million in the first quarter, a shift from the $154 million net profit in the same period last year, despite an 8% increase in sales to $8.5 billion.
Coupang Korea, responsible for over 90% of the company’s total revenue, faced severe public criticism after revealing a data breach in November 2025 affecting around 33.6 million customers. This incident led to the largest net and operating losses for Coupang since the fourth quarter of 2021. Despite a trend of narrowing operating losses from 2022 onwards, the company experienced a setback due to the breach.
The product commerce segment, Coupang’s primary online shopping business, saw a 4% sales increase to $7.2 billion in the first quarter. Moreover, revenue from the developing offerings segment, which includes Coupang’s Taiwan operations and food delivery service Coupang Eats, surged by 28% to $1.3 billion during the same period. Coupang also disclosed a $391 million share repurchase in the first quarter and approved an additional $1 billion stock buyback program.
During a conference call, Bom Kim, Coupang’s founder and chairman, attributed the first-quarter earnings impact to one-time vouchers issued post the data breach and temporary inefficiencies due to lower-than-expected demand post-incident. Kim expressed optimism that as demand stabilizes, operational balance will be restored, and inefficiencies will diminish.
