“From 50¢ to $82: Activist Eric Jackson Aims Big on Opendoor Revival”

 Shares of Opendoor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:OPEN) surged 15.5% on Tuesday, driven in part by a wave of retail investor enthusiasm and activist sentiment. The rally follows a string of public comments from EMJ Capital Founder Eric Jackson, who signaled interest in engaging in shareholder activism to unlock what he sees as significant upside for the iBuyer platform.

Jackson, who previously shelved his activist approach after his campaign with Yahoo, made his intentions clear in a series of pointed social media posts. “But if standing between a 50¢ stock and an $82 one is what it takes — and shareholders want it — I’ll saddle up again for OPEN,” Jackson posted on X.

He criticized the idea of a quick acquisition or capital restructuring as insufficient, calling for operational execution instead. “You don’t get to $82 through M&A. You get there by grinding, executing, and proving the model,” he wrote.

Opendoor, which has struggled amid rising interest rates and declining U.S. housing activity, has attracted growing attention from retail investors and hedge funds in recent weeks. Jackson didn’t hold back in his assessment of Opendoor’s leadership under current CEO Carrie Wheeler, calling on her to take bolder steps to demonstrate confidence in the business.

“And it would be nice if she bellied up to the bar and bought a slug of stock here on the open market the way Ernie Garcia did,” Jackson added. He also issued a step-by-step directive for Wheeler to reset investor confidence, including cancelling any reverse split plans and inviting co-founder Keith Rabois back into the fold.

Rabois, a prominent voice in the startup community and vocal critic of the company’s direction, echoed Jackson’s skepticism. “She is utterly incompetent. she was a mediocre CFO. and tech companies should never be led by CFOs,” Rabois wrote in response to the thread.

Other investors have chimed in with support for Jackson’s thesis, including Randian Capital, which highlighted easing inflation data as a potential tailwind for Opendoor’s core business. “We agree that OPEN has a lot of upside at current levels. We would emphasize that rates are coming down, it’s simply a matter of time,” the firm posted Tuesday. Randian also pointed to Opendoor’s potential as an early bird for accepting crypto payments, following news that Fannie Mae (OTC:FNMA) and Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC)are allowing crypto as an asset in mortgage loan assessments.

Randian Capital told Investing.com it sees Opendoor as well-positioned to benefit from falling rates and reduced competition in the iBuying space. While the firm is “optimistic current management can execute on the opportunity ahead,” it also noted that, “If not, we hope the appropriate operators are brought in to do so which could include someone from the founding team with the right vision.”

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