Josh Brown's New Best Stock Idea: a South Korean Ecommerce Company

Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is one of the 10 Stocks to Watch in July as AI Enthusiasm Returns.

Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, recently pitched Coupang as one of the best stocks during a program on CNBC. Here is why Brown likes the stock.

"Coupang Inc (NYSE:CPNG) is on the best stocks in the market list because it's a Korean business but it's incorporated and based in Seattle. So this is a US company with a US founder, but most of their business is being the Amazon of South Korea. The best comp here is  MercadoLibre. MELI is up 9,000% plus since its IPO. This company is probably 5 years behind MELI in terms of its margins, its earnings, its growth. So there's still a lot of opportunity. It came public in '21. Everybody forgot about it because the whole growth stock market crashed for a year. But now it's working its way back, and the reality is that it's not terribly expensive. It's in a 40% drawdown from that '21 high. Barclays has a $36 target, and it's a best stock. It's breaking out. You've got a 50- to 200-day moving average crossover, which signals short-term momentum, and I think the stock probably gets itself into the mid-30s at a minimum based on the breakout that we've seen."

Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund stated the following regarding Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Shares of Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, corrected 10.5% in the fourth quarter (even though they finished 2024 up 33.9%). While the company delivered solid quarterly results with 27% year-on-year revenue growth with Farfetch and other initiative losses narrowing significantly, its product commerce EBITDA margin missed expectations due to a temporarily elevated spending on technology and automation. Sluggish domestic consumption in Korea, with the e-commerce market experiencing flattish to negative growth, and political uncertainty stemming from President Yoon’s declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment, further weighed on the stock. Despite these short-term challenges, we maintain a positive outlook on Coupang’s long-term market share expansion and margin growth trajectory, and view Coupang as one of the most competitively advantaged e-commerce businesses globally, with significant runway for both revenue and earnings growth.”

While we acknowledge the potential of CPNG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.