A Discounted Cash Flow model projects a company’s future cash flows and then discounts them back to today’s dollars to estimate what the business is worth right now.
For Coupang, the model starts with last twelve month Free Cash Flow of about $1.27 billion and uses analyst forecasts for the next few years, then extrapolates further using Simply Wall St assumptions. By 2027, Coupang’s Free Cash Flow is projected to reach roughly $2.52 billion, and the extended 10 year forecast continues to climb from there as the business scales and margins improve.
When all of those projected cash flows are discounted back to the present, the DCF model estimates an intrinsic value of about $38.78 per share. This implies the stock is trading at roughly a 32.8% discount to its calculated fair value, which indicates that the market is still cautious about how durable Coupang’s growth and profitability will be.
Overall, the DCF view presents Coupang as a growth story that the market may not be fully crediting yet.
Result: UNDERVALUED
Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Coupang is undervalued by 32.8%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 908 more undervalued stocks based on cash flows.
For companies that are already profitable, the Price to Earnings ratio is a practical way to gauge valuation because it ties the share price directly to the earnings power that investors ultimately rely on. A higher or lower PE is not good or bad on its own; it should reflect how fast earnings are expected to grow and how risky those earnings are.
Coupang currently trades on a PE of about 122.1x, which is far richer than both the Multiline Retail industry average of roughly 19.9x and the broader peer group average of around 31.6x. To move beyond simple comparisons, Simply Wall St uses a proprietary Fair Ratio, which estimates what a reasonable PE should be given factors like Coupang's earnings growth outlook, margins, industry, market cap and risk profile.
This Fair Ratio for Coupang is 43.5x, well below the current 122.1x. Because the Fair Ratio adjusts for growth and risk in a more systematic way than blunt peer or industry averages, it offers a more tailored benchmark for the stock. On this basis, Coupang screens as significantly overvalued on earnings.
Result: OVERVALUED
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Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation, so let's introduce you to Narratives, a simple way to connect your view of Coupang's future to actual numbers like revenue, earnings, margins and a fair value estimate.
A Narrative is the story you believe about a company, translated into a structured forecast that spells out how fast you expect sales to grow, how profitable the business can become and what that should make the stock worth today.
On Simply Wall St, Narratives live in the Community page and are designed to be accessible, so you do not need to build a full model yourself. The platform helps you move from story, to forecast, to Fair Value, then compares that against the current share price so you can see how your view of Coupang aligns with different valuation scenarios.
These Narratives update dynamically as new information comes in, like earnings results, changes in analyst forecasts or major news, and you can see how other investors differ. For example, one Narrative might assume a fair value of about $27 per share while a more optimistic one might land closer to $36, reflecting different expectations for Coupang's growth and profitability.
Do you think there's more to the story for Coupang? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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