Q1 2024 Earnings Summary
- Coupang's strong revenue growth is driven by increased spend across all customer cohorts, including the oldest, and investments in expanding product selection and delivery speed, indicating sustained growth potential.
- The launch of free delivery for Eats has led to the largest increase in orders and customers in the history of Eats, with Eats continuing to be unit economics positive, suggesting significant growth potential in the food delivery market.
- Coupang's advertising business is growing significantly faster than the overall business, with strong growth and adoption from merchants, and remains in the early stages, indicating substantial future revenue potential as it develops this high-margin business.
- Increased competition from new Chinese commerce entrants is acknowledged by Coupang, which may impact market share and require ongoing investments to maintain competitiveness.
- The guidance for Developing Offerings' adjusted EBITDA losses increased by $100 million to $750 million, primarily due to the integration of Farfetch, which is expected to add $100 million in losses this year, posing risks to profitability targets.
- Advertising revenue remains minimal, being a very small percentage of overall transaction volume and lower than levels at global peers, indicating slower progress in monetizing this segment compared to competitors.
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Farfetch Guidance Impact
Q: Is the $100M loss increase due to Farfetch?
A: The $100 million increase in Developing Offering loss guidance, from $650 million to $750 million, is primarily due to Farfetch. We expect Farfetch to add about $100 million to adjusted EBITDA losses for the year but anticipate it will achieve close to positive adjusted EBITDA on a run rate basis by year-end. -
Share Buybacks
Q: Will you continue share buybacks, possibly from SoftBank?
A: In April, we repurchased and canceled about $178 million of our Class A common stock from an early-stage investor. We continuously assess opportunities, including share repurchases, to drive long-term returns for shareholders. While SoftBank remains a good partner and one of our largest investors, we evaluate multiple opportunities and will make decisions best for our long-term shareholders. -
Revenue Growth Outlook
Q: Any comments on 2024 revenue outlook?
A: Our growth reflects customers' adoption of years of investment in providing the best experience at the lowest price across the broadest assortment. We continue to focus on adding more assortment and increasing delivery speed. Our strategy and drivers of growth remain consistent, and we see broad spending increases across all customer cohorts. -
Eats Unit Economics
Q: How does free delivery impact Eats' economics?
A: Free delivery has unlocked significant growth for Eats, with the single largest increase in orders and customers in its history. Eats remains unit economics positive, excluding onetime merchant acquisition costs. Most WOW members are still not using Eats, indicating a substantial opportunity ahead. -
Advertising Growth
Q: Update on advertising progress and plans?
A: Advertising is growing significantly faster than our overall business but is still a very small percentage of our transaction volume and lower than levels at global peers. We are in early stages of developing tools and services to enhance experience for customers and advertisers and see strong growth and significant potential ahead. -
AI Investments
Q: Discuss your AI investments and use cases.
A: We are exploring both foundational models and developing our own AI applications. Machine learning and AI are core to our strategy, deployed in supply chain management and same-day logistics. We see tremendous potential with large language models in areas like search, ads, catalog, and operations, and will invest further where we see the greatest potential for return. -
Chinese Competition
Q: How are you responding to Chinese entrants?
A: Commerce has always been highly competitive, with many competitors and constant new entrants, including recent Chinese players. Holding a single-digit share of a $560 billion commerce opportunity, our success depends on investing and innovating to provide the best customer experience and operational excellence to win customers. -
Taiwan Expansion
Q: Will Taiwan mimic Korea's logistics strategy?
A: In Taiwan, we're leveraging what we've built in Korea over many years, including our selection, fulfillment processes, supply chain optimization, and advanced technology. This helps us scale faster in Taiwan, and we expect to reach profitability there faster than we did in Korea. We'll also seek new solutions to create differentiation and returns. -
Farfetch Long-Term Plans
Q: Elaborate on Farfetch's long-term strategy.
A: Having just completed the acquisition at the end of January, we're prioritizing stabilizing Farfetch without compromising customer service and value. We anticipate achieving close to positive adjusted EBITDA on a run rate basis by year-end. It's early to discuss mid- or long-term strategies, but we'll share more after reaching that milestone.