The Motley Foolยท2025-05-22 08:15Core Viewpoint - Coupang and Sea Limited, once popular growth stocks, are now being evaluated for their potential as turnaround plays in the current market environment [1][3]. Coupang Overview - Coupang operates South Korea's largest e-commerce platform and went public at $35 in March 2021, reaching an all-time high of $50.45 shortly after [2]. - The stock currently trades at approximately $27, having retreated from its peak due to slowed growth and rising interest rates [3]. - Coupang's active customer base grew from 14.9 million at the end of 2020 to 23.4 million in Q1 2025, with Wow subscribers increasing from 6 million in 2020 to 13 million in 2023 [6]. - The company has expanded its marketplace to Taiwan and acquired Farfetch to diversify beyond South Korea, achieving a revenue CAGR of 26% from 2020 to 2024 [7]. - Coupang turned profitable on a GAAP basis in 2023 and 2024, driven by higher-margin marketplace expansion and automation [8]. - Analysts project Coupang's revenue and GAAP EPS to grow at CAGRs of 13% and 130% from 2024 to 2027, respectively, with a current valuation of 1.4 times this year's sales [9]. Sea Limited Overview - Sea Limited, based in Singapore, operates Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, and went public at $15 in October 2017, reaching a peak of $366.99 in October 2021 [2]. - The stock currently trades at around $163, facing challenges as growth has slowed and competition has intensified [3][12]. - Sea's strategy relied on Garena's gaming profits to subsidize Shopee's losses, but the gaming segment has faced setbacks, including the ban of Free Fire in India [11]. - Despite these challenges, Sea's revenue grew at a CAGR of 40% from 2020 to 2024, and it also turned profitable on a GAAP basis in 2023 and 2024 [14]. - Analysts expect Sea's revenue and GAAP EPS to grow at CAGRs of 20% and 97% from 2024 to 2027, with plans to enhance Shopee's features and expand into Vietnam [15]. Investment Comparison - Coupang is viewed as a more balanced investment with a cheaper valuation compared to Sea, which is heavily reliant on a single aging video game for profits [16]. - While Sea is growing faster, its higher forward price-to-sales ratio makes it less attractive than Coupang [16].