Coupang (CPNG -1.30%) has been called the "Amazon (AMZN -2.56%) of South Korea," and its recent growth numbers look very impressive. In this Fool Live video clip, recorded on Nov. 8, Fool.com contributor Danny Vena explains why he owns Coupang in his portfolio and has no plans to sell anytime soon.
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Danny Vena: Coupang has been called the Amazon of South Korea. Now, there are a few things about Coupang that makes it really a compelling, interesting story. First of all, this is a company that Softbank (SOBK.Y 0.34%) owns a considerable amount of. I think at the time of the IPO, they owned like one-third of the company.
The other thing that I think is really interesting about it is the fact that the majority of the population in Korea, and there's somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 million people. About 70% of the population lives within seven miles of a Coupang fulfillment center. To me, that's a pretty incredible scenario. I think about Walmart (WMT 0.46%) in the United States and how close everybody is to a Walmart. Just having the last-mile delivery services, have 71% or 70% of the population within seven miles, is pretty impressive.
Now, the stock has been punished in the two quarters since the company went public and the reason for that is pre-IPO revenue for the year ending December was up 91% year-over-year, to just short of $12 billion and that was up from 55% growth in 2019. But like many e-commerce stocks, Coupang got hit a little bit this year when people started going back out, so their first quarter revenue was only up 74% percent year-over-year. Second quarter revenue was only up 71% year-over-year, so as a result of that, the stock has been hammered.
However, if you think like I do, that e-commerce is not going to go anywhere but up from here, and if you think like I do, that a country that has 51 million people and they are heavy Internet users in South Korea. I think that is a very large opportunity there for Coupang. I am actually a shareholder. This is one of the few stocks that I bought within the first couple of quarters after the IPO. My position is down right now, but I plan on holding those shares.
