Opendoor Technologies' (NASDAQ: OPEN) misfortunes continue to deepen as the real estate market remains stuck, with no light showing yet at the end of the tunnel. It's joined the ranks of penny stocks and keeps sliding, down 56% this year alone and trading at dangerously low levels at under $1 per share.
Is there any hope left for Opendoor, or should investors stay far away?
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Opendoor is an iBuyer, which means it buys homes directly from sellers, fixes them up, and then sells them at a higher price. It's a simple business model that individuals have been using forever, and Opendoor takes it up a notch by scaling it into a full, digitally supported platform. It also offers an assortment of complementary services, such as an online marketplace and agent services, and it's always expanding its features to meet demand and create options for sellers and buyers.
When the company went public in 2020, interest rates were historically low, and real estate was booming. The company's strong performance has now been hampered by high interest rates and a housing market that isn't budging.
According to the latest market data, housing prices are still rising, and the median home price reached $430,838 in March. Homes sold declined by 2.7%, and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate declined by 0.17%, but was still high at 6.7%. Homes are also selling at their slowest pace in six years, with the average home on the market for 47 days before going under contract.
Image source: Getty Images.
Opendoor's management is tweaking its model to get the best it can out of the current circumstances. Instead of relying on its core product of making cash offers to home sellers, it's expanding its agent network with a program for agents to connect with potential homebuyers and explain the options.
It's also shifting its marketing and ad spend to find more homes for sales in the off-season, which are prepared for resale in the high season. A company as large as Opendoor believes it has the leverage to do that successfully.
Opendoor released its latest update this week, and although I would call it mixed, the market responded positively. Results were better than expected, and management gave a pleasing outlook.
Sales were down 2% from last year in the 2025 first quarter, but they beat Wall Street's expectations, and houses sold were down 4%. Gross profit was $99 million, down from $115 million last year, and gross margin was 8.6%, down from 9.7% last year. Net loss improved from $109 million in 2024 to $85 million in 2025, and loss per share was also better than Wall Street was looking for.
In some forward-looking metrics, it purchased 3,609 homes, 22% more than last year, but it ended the quarter with 1,051 homes under contract -- 60% lower than last year.
Beating expectations is certainly a step in the right direction, but there isn't enough progress to say Opendoor is out of the woods. A business turnaround will require a much stronger housing market, and the company doesn't have control over that. Management's work with what it does have control over is confidence-boosting, but the company will remain in a challenging position until external forces change.
Opendoor's platform might be better than the traditional system, but it's not good enough to beat back current headwinds. As those headwinds remain strong, Opendoor can't bounce back. At the current price, Opendoor stock trades at a price-to-sales ratio of less than 0.1, but it's not a bargain if you don't expect the stock to move higher anytime soon.
I wouldn't say there's no hope for Opendoor, but there doesn't look like any reason for investors to tie up money in this stock while the environment remains unfavorable. There are better places to park your money right now, or you might enjoy that slice of pizza.
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Opendoor (NASDAQ: OPEN) was one of the most prominent companies to go public in the 2020-2021 SPAC boom, but the business couldn't live up to the hype once interest rates started rising. In this video, longtime Fool.com contributors Matt Frankel and Tyler Crowe take a closer look at Opendoor's latest results and what could be in store for 2025.
*Stock prices used were the morning prices of April 22, 2025. The video was published on April 23, 2025.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Before you buy stock in Opendoor Technologies, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Opendoor Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025
Matt Frankel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Tyler Crowe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Matthew Frankel is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
Shares of the online housing brokerage Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ: OPEN) plunged 23% this week, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after the latest data showed that housing sales slowed to their lowest pace since 2009.
Housing inventory climbed quickly, but sales slowed as potential homebuyers shunned high prices, elevated interest rates, and economic uncertainty. With an unpredictable macroeconomic climate, investors are concerned that more pain could be ahead for the housing market and Opendoor.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »
Image source: Getty Images.
The housing market showed its first dramatic signs of slowing down in March, with existing-home sales dropping 5.9% during the month compared to February. The monthly drop also represented a 2.4% decline year over year, according to data from Realtor.com.
Mortgage rates have fluctuated over the past month since President Trump announced aggressive tariffs on U.S. trading partners. But despite some temporary dips, they're still elevated, sitting at around 6.8% for a 30-year mortgage.
While not historically high, mortgage rates are much higher than they were a few years ago, and they've remained stubborn during a historic rise in housing prices. For example, the median home sales price has spiked nearly 27% over the past five years to $416,900.
These rapidly accelerating home prices were fine when buyers felt more confident in the economy and their jobs, but that's changed recently. A recent survey found that consumer confidence in where the economy is headed is at a 12-year low.
All of this is bad news for Opendoor, whose platform connects buyers and sellers. Opendoor also buys, flips, and sells homes, so the slowdown in homebuying is likely to hurt the business. Opendoor's revenue fell 26% in 2024 to $5.2 billion, and its net loss widened to $392 million. Those figures were reported before the latest housing data, meaning Opendoor could face further downward pressure.
With sales falling in 2024 and losses widening, Opendoor was already struggling. However, the latest housing market data indicates that tougher times could come.
Even if Trump's tariffs don't spur a recession, it's evident that with consumers worried about their jobs and about price increases on goods due to tariffs, they're holding off on house purchases. And with no end in sight to the tariff uncertainty, Opendoor may continue to be affected by this negative homebuyer sentiment.
Before you buy stock in Opendoor Technologies, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Opendoor Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025
Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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