New York, February 20, 2026, 07:45 EST — Premarket
- Opendoor (OPEN) surged roughly 17% ahead of the bell after posting its latest quarterly numbers.
- The company highlights quicker home sales and less aging inventory as it moves toward its breakeven goal for 2026.
- Traders are eyeing U.S. inflation and growth numbers set for release later Friday, which could jolt expectations around rates and the housing market.
Shares of Opendoor Technologies Inc jumped roughly 17% to $5.46 ahead of the bell on Friday, adding to strong gains that followed its quarterly earnings release late Thursday. (Benzinga)
The timing isn’t great for housing stocks. Opendoor, which depends on rapid-fire home buying and reselling, faces a tougher run as borrowing costs climb. Demand, prices, and the company’s own financing costs all feel the squeeze.
Opendoor’s fourth-quarter revenue landed at $736 million, slipping from $1.084 billion a year ago, according to its filing. The company posted a net loss of $1.096 billion, weighed down by a $933 million charge related to early debt extinguishment. Homes bought jumped 46% quarter-on-quarter to 1,706, with the Cash Plus product accounting for 35% of weekly volume. Looking ahead, Opendoor expects first-quarter revenue to dip roughly 10% from Q4, and projects an adjusted EBITDA loss somewhere in the low-to-mid $30 million range. CEO Kaz Nejatian said the period proved the company was “executing on that plan” to hit breakeven adjusted net income by the end of 2026. (SEC)
Adjusted EBITDA—used by traders to cut through noise from things like interest, taxes, and non-cash items—often gets more attention when GAAP numbers move around because of debt or inventory swings. Opendoor calls out its “contribution margin” for profitability after direct and carrying costs, but that number has stayed slim, giving the company little cushion if the housing market stumbles.
The U.S. housing market remains unsettled. Pending home sales slipped 0.8% in January, according to the National Association of Realtors on Thursday, as low inventory continued to hamper transactions. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun noted that mortgage rates hovering around 6% have expanded the base of eligible buyers, but pointed out the sector still lacks enough homes to prevent prices from surging again. (Reuters)
Borrowing costs have come down a bit, though not enough to erase pressure on leveraged home-flipping operations. Freddie Mac’s latest weekly survey puts the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.01%, a level last seen in September 2022. Economists, for their part, note that cheaper rates haven’t produced a straightforward pickup in sales yet. (AP News)
Opendoor stands out as one of the last major public players still leaning into iBuying—snapping up homes and flipping them—while others have scaled back from that capital-intensive approach. Despite differences in business models and risk, investors continue to eye Zillow and other real-estate platforms for clues about housing demand.
This setup has its risks. Revenue is on the decline, with management now expecting another drop in the first quarter. Margins are thin, offering not much protection if home prices slip or sales slow down—either scenario could mean higher carrying costs and deeper discounts.
Eyes turn to Friday at 8:30 a.m. EST, when the PCE inflation index and the first look at fourth-quarter GDP land—data that has the muscle to shake up Treasury yields and reset where mortgage rates are headed, all in one shot. (Reuters)
