By Adam Clark

Opendoor Technologies was rising sharply early Friday. Unexpectedly strong revenue was reawakening interest in the online homebuying platform, after a period when meme-stock interest in its shares has faded.

Opendoor was up 18% at $5.47 in premarket trading. That's some way off the heights of above $10 a share it reached last September when the appointment of new leadership electrified interest among retail investors, but could put an end to a slump of 31% in the past three months.

Earnings were the catalyst, as Opendoor reported fourth-quarter revenue of $736 million, beating Wall Street's forecast of $594 million, according to FactSet. However, it booked an adjusted net loss of $62 million and forecast a 10% fall in revenue in the current quarter.

Skeptics have questioned Opendoor's long-term viability and focus on the instant buyer market for home sellers, designed to speed up transactions and avoid realtor brokerage fees. Other companies which have tried the business model such as Zillow Group have subsequently exited, finding it difficult to scale up in fragmented markets amid a sputtering housing market.

Opendoor's leadership --consisting of former Shopify Chief Operating Officer Kaz Nejatian as CEO and co-founders Keith Rabois and Eric Wu who have returned to its board of directors-- has insisted it can succeed by completing house transactions faster and cutting costs.

"The evidence of progress is clear. We increased our homes purchased by 46% quarter-over-quarter, significantly reduced our capital intensity by expanding Cash Plus such that it is now 35% of our weekly volume, and we reduced average days in possession of our inventory by 23%," CEO Nejatian said in a statement.

Opendoor bought 1,706 homes in the fourth quarter, down from 2,951 homes in the same period a year earlier, but up from 1,169 homes in the third quarter of 2025.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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February 20, 2026 07:21 ET (12:21 GMT)

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