What Happened?
Shares of online platform company Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) fell 2.2% in the afternoon session after its CEO, Park Dae-jun, announced his resignation as he took responsibility for a massive data breach. The breach was described as one of the worst in South Korea's history, exposing the personal information of over 33 million customers. In a statement, the departing CEO said he was stepping down after feeling a "heavy sense of responsibility for the incident." Following the news, South Korean police raided the company's Seoul headquarters. The company also faced mounting legal pressure as a U.S. law office prepared a class-action lawsuit. Coupang appointed its General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Harold Rogers, as the interim CEO.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Coupang? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Coupang’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 9 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 16 days ago when the stock gained 2.9% on the news that renewed enthusiasm for Alphabet reinvigorated the artificial intelligence trade, propelling a market rebound heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The Nasdaq index jumped 2.6% and the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, driven by a 5% rally in Alphabet following the announcement of its upgraded Gemini 3 AI model. This optimism spilled over into the broader tech sector. The rally built on momentum from the previous trading session, sparked by the New York Fed president keeping the door open for a December interest rate cut.
Coupang is up 18.2% since the beginning of the year, but at $26.35 per share, it is still trading 21.4% below its 52-week high of $33.53 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Coupang’s shares at the IPO in March 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $535.05.
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