Opendoor Mania Leads FinTech IPO Index Up 2.5%

Is it a legit run? A passing fad? A meme stock? Opendoor Technologies roared back onto Wall Street’s radar and easily topped the positive movers on the Fintech IPO Index this week. Overall, the index was up 2.51% for the week and is outpacing June so far by 11.56%.

But back to Opendoor. The stock has posted a spectacular surge of nearly 200% over the last month, including an eye-popping 47% jump in pre-market trading on July 17 alone. Once left for dead as a penny stock struggling for relevance, Opendoor has become the latest beneficiary — and perhaps casualty — of revived meme stock mania.

If you’re unfamiliar, Opendoor is a pioneer in the “iBuyer” model, leveraging data-driven technology to buy and sell homes virtually and at scale. The company went public in 2020 at the peak of real estate tech optimism, only to see its valuation deflate amid rising rates and stalling housing demand. In 2024, annual revenues fell to $5.15 billion from $6.94 billion in 2023 — a sharp drop from the $15.5 billion peak reached in 2022. Crucially, the company has never posted an annual profit, recording a net loss of $85 million last quarter.

The recent rally was catalyzed almost entirely by retail investors and social media buzz. A bullish thesis from EMJ Capital’s Eric Jackson went viral, touting Opendoor as the “next Carvana” and suggesting 100x upside potential. Message boards like r/WallStreetBets and StockTwits ignited a flurry of speculative buying — and short covering — pushing trading volumes to record highs. Options markets lit up, with a surge in bullish call activity amplifying the price spike.

All hallmarks of meme stock fever are here: high retail participation, elevated short interest (22%+), explosive price moves disconnected from fundamentals, and little new positive financial news. Despite operational cost-cutting and hints of stabilization in the U.S. housing market, Opendoor remains unprofitable and faces deep skepticism among institutional investors who have set price targets under $1 — far below recent trading levels.

Not every company was so fortunate this week. Leading the downside was paycheck-to-paycheck lender OppFi with a 12% drop. The company doesn’t report earnings until Aug. 8, so a direct correlation to any bad news wasn’t apparent.

However, AInvest found a potential explanation in a recent report on the financial health of OppFi’s customers. “OppFi’s Spring 2025 Financial Health Survey reveals that approximately 70% of OppFi customers express concerns about rising living costs and reduced purchasing power,” according to AInvest.

“Additionally, 24.3% of respondents reported having less than one week’s worth of emergency savings, indicating a critical need for better financial safety nets. These economic pressures and vulnerabilities may contribute to a negative perception of OppFi and its stock price.”

Oportun posted a 9.3% drop for the week. The company, which provides “intelligent borrowing, savings, and budgeting capabilities” made news when it settled a board dispute that had been raging since earlier this month. Time will tell if the settlement affects the stock prices.

According to TipRanks, “JPMorgan raised the firm’s price target on Oportun Financial (OPRT) to $8 from $7 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm established year-end 2026 price targets in the consumer finance group heading into the Q2 reports. While tariff uncertainty remains elevated, the probability of ‘left-tailed scenarios’ has diminished, which warrants a more constructive outlook, the analyst tells investors in a research note.”

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