We recently compiled a list of the 99% of Billionaire Abrams’ Portfolio is in These 11 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) stands against the other stocks in David Abrams’ portfolio.
Founded in 1999 by David Abrams, Abrams Capital Management is an investment fund that strives to generate value by leveraging opportunistic and value-oriented investment strategies. Likewise, its portfolio is well-skewed to navigate any challenging macro environment, as it mainly focuses on value investments.
In addition, Abrams Capital Management’s portfolio focuses on diversifying its holdings across various asset classes. Stocks, debt, and distressed securities are some of its top asset classes. Diversification and value investments are some of the strategies that have allowed Abrams to perform better than other hedge fund managers, based on an annualized net return of 15% over the past 15 years.
Abrams Capital Management is primarily invested in the Services sector in the equity markets, which accounts for 25% of its holdings, with Technology stocks accounting for about 11,% followed in third by Basic Materials stocks. The strategic distribution affirms the hedge fund’s focus on sectors with higher prospects for value growth that align with long-term investment philosophy.
In the third quarter, Abrams made significant changes, trimming stakes in some holdings while increasing in others. The hedge fund made no new purchases or sales, reduced holdings in 3 stocks, and did not add to any existing positions. The top 10 holdings constitute 97.75% of the portfolio. The investments are concentrated in seven key sectors. The changes reflect the calculated approach in response to changing macroeconomics.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of billionaire Abrams’ portfolio we scanned Abrams Capital Management’s third quarter portfolio, focusing on the biggest holdings based on investment size. Upon analyzing the stocks, focusing on why they stand out, we ranked them in ascending order based on Abrams Capital Management’s equity stake.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A woman holding a laptop, wearing a graphic t-shirt, casually checking her e-commerce order.
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG)
Abrams Capital Management’s Q3 2024 Investment: $319.59 Million
Percentage of Abrams Capital Management’s Portfolio: 5.13%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is an internet retail giant that operates retail businesses through mobile applications in South Korea. It sells various products and services in the categories of home goods and décor products, apparel, and beauty products, among others. The stock is up by more than 50% for the year. The rally stems from solid financial results that have affirmed the company’s prospects in South Korea’s retail landscape.
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) reported strong third-quarter results on November 5, 2024. Revenue increased by 27% to $7.9 billion, and gross profit rose by 45% to $2.3 billion. This success was due to an 11% increase in active customers, who ordered nine times more than non-core members, boosting sales.
Although the company’s product commerce EBITDA margins fell by 5%, this was because of higher spending on technology. This investment shows Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG)’s focus on sustainable growth and improving customer experience. The company is financially strong with $1.8 billion in operating cash flow and $935 million in free cash flow.
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) was held by 56 hedge funds in Q3 2024, as per Insider Monkey’s database.
Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund stated the following regarding Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“We also added to our position in the Korean e-commerce platform, Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), as the company continues to execute at a high level, reporting strong financial results, with accelerating revenue growth – revenues were up 20% year-over-year in constant currency in the fourth quarter, 29% excluding the impact from Coupang’s Fulfillment and Logistics accounting change, driven by growth in its number of customers count (up 16% year-over-year), growth of its loyalty Wow members (up 27% year-over-year) and growth in spending by existing cohorts (with every cohort, including those who have used the platform for a long time, growing at least 15% year-over-year), which suggests continued wallet share gains for the company. While Coupang continues to gain market share, its attractive unit economics are beginning to appear in results, with adjusted EBITDA margins of its commerce segment reaching 7.1% in the fourth quarter (up 190bps year-over-year). Coupang is utilizing the growing profits from commerce to invest in emerging offerings such as Fulfillment and Logistics by Coupang (FLC), expansion into Taiwan (with revenues up 2 times in the last six months) and Coupang Eats, its food delivery network, which saw order volume increase by 2 times as well in the last nine months. In the last week or so, Coupang also announced a material 58% Wow membership price hike, which should flow through nicely to the bottom line, sending the stock higher by close to 20%.”
Overall CPNG ranks 6th on our list of stocks in David Abrams’ portfolio. 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 doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CPNG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.