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Coupang's headquarters in Jamsil, Seoul. / Coupang

Coupang posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue in the first quarter of 2024, driven by rapid growth in its luxury e-commerce unit Farfetch and Taiwan’s Rocket Delivery business.

According to the company’s consolidated earnings report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 7, Coupang recorded 11.49 trillion won ($7.908 billion) in revenue for the January–March period, marking a 21% increase year-on-year. In U.S. dollar terms, revenue rose 11% from the same period last year. The previous quarterly record was 11.11 trillion won ($7.965 billion) in Q4 2023.

Operating profit surged to 233.7 billion won ($154 million), more than tripling from 53.1 billion won a year earlier. The operating margin improved to 2%, compared to 0.6% a year ago. While slightly lower than the 435.3 billion won recorded in Q4 2023, Q1 profit exceeded the 194 billion won posted in Q3 2023.

Net income reached 165.6 billion won ($114 million), turning around from a 31.8 billion won loss in the same period last year. This represented a net profit margin of 1.4%, though it was a slight dip from Q4 2023’s 182.7 billion won. Earnings per share stood at $0.06.

The number of active customers using Coupang’s core “Product Commerce” services—including Rocket Delivery, Rocket Fresh, Rocket Growth, and Marketplace—rose 9% to 23.4 million, up from 21.5 million a year ago.

Revenue from Product Commerce amounted to 9.98 trillion won ($6.87 billion), an increase of 16% year-on-year. Average revenue per active customer rose 6% to 427,080 won ($294).

Coupang’s growth businesses—including Farfetch, its Taiwan operations, and Coupang Eats—generated 1.51 trillion won ($1.038 billion) in revenue, up 78% from a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA losses for this segment slightly narrowed to 244 billion won ($168 million) from 247 billion won in Q1 2023. Coupang completed its acquisition of luxury platform Farfetch early last year.

Coupang also announced a share repurchase program of up to $1 billion (approximately 1.4 trillion won). "The board has approved a program to repurchase up to $1 billion of Class A common stock, which aligns with our broader capital allocation strategy and will provide meaningful returns to our shareholders," the company stated.