OPEN: If Any Real-Estate Investment Deserves to Double, It's Opendoor Technologies

If you only judge by the recent price action of Opendoor Technologies < NASDAQ:OPEN> shares, you might assume that digital real estate is a dead market. Yet, I invite you to flex your contrarian muscles today and consider a dip-buy with OPEN stock.

Since 2014, Opendoor has sought to disrupt an industry with a digital platform for residential real estate. Over the years, the company has tried to convince consumers to reimagine how they’ll buy and sell their homes.

There’s no denying that Opendoor has grown its business. As evidence of this, the company posted revenue of $2.3 billion in 2021’s third quarter, for a 91% quarter-over-quarter improvement.

Not only that, but Opendoor sold 5,988 in Q3 2021, up 72% compared to the prior quarter’s result. Yet, the company just can’t seem to muster up enthusiasm among investors. Could there be a prime buying opportunity here, then, and possibly even a chance for investors to double their money?

A Closer Look at OPEN Stock

Taking us back to the beginning, in September of 2021, Chamath Palihapitiya brought Opendoor to the public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Social Capital Hedosophia II, which traded as IPOB stock.

That blank-check company merged with Opendoor, and IPOB stock disappeared to make way for OPEN stock.

At the time, Palihapitiya claimed that Opendoor, an online marketplace for buying and selling houses, would be his “next 10x idea.” So far, Palihapitiya’s ambitious claim hasn’t panned out.

Don’t misunderstand – there was a quick pop in the share price. OPEN stock commenced trading on the Nasdaq exchange on Dec. 21, and hit a 52-week high of $39.24 in February 2022.

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That rally was probably precipitated by the meme-stock mania that was going on in early 2022. Nothing against Palihapitiya or Opendoor, but the share price didn’t deserve to go as high as it did, as early as it did.

So, a pullback was healthy and necessary. $20 would have been reasonable, yet it appears that there may have been an over-correction as OPEN stock plunged to $10 in early February.

Foray into the Bay

What catalyst could push the Opendoor share price from $10 to $20, and double the investors’ money?

Perhaps a move into America’s most expensive housing market could do the trick. Reportedly, Opendoor is launching operations in California’s San Francisco Bay Area.

From Sonoma to Santa Clara, Opendoor intends to cover more than 200 zip codes with its digital home buying and selling services.

How expensive are the homes in this area? It’s hard to imagine, but Bay Area houses built after 1940 and which are eligible for purchase, are currently valued between $400,000 and $2.5 million.

Even though this is a new announcement, Opendoor is already staking a considerable claim in this high-end real-estate market.

“In the Bay Area, we’re now able to purchase roughly 60% of homes, meaning we can support more customers in more areas,” the company explained.

Major Milestones

Despite the subpar performance of OPEN stock in 2021, the company actually proved itself as a competitive business throughout the year.

There’s no shortage of data points to prove this. For example, in 2021, Opendoor more than doubled its markets and expanded its national footprint to 44 U.S. neighborhoods.

On top of all that, Opendoor surpassed 100,000 customer transactions last year. Plus, amazingly, buyers visited over half a million Opendoor homes in 2021.

There’s also a critical trend to be found in 2021. Specifically, Opendoor saw its virtual-home tours double that year, compared to 2020.

Don’t be surprised if the company continues to break records in 2022. Could this be the year when a million buyers visit Opendoor homes?

The Bottom Line

The decline in OPEN stock hasn’t been great for Palihapitiya’s reputation. It’s also been a bummer for the investors, no doubt.

Yet, there’s no need to give up hope. Clearly, Opendoor is thriving as a digital real-estate business in America.

Besides, with the venture in the San Francisco Bay Area, Opendoor should have no problem opening the door to a major revenue source this year.

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On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

David Moadel has provided compelling content – and crossed the occasional line – on behalf of Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finom Group, Benzinga, and (of course) InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets.

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OPEN shares were trading at $10.12 per share on Monday morning, down $0.11 (-1.08%). Year-to-date, OPEN has declined -30.73%, versus a -7.36% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.