technologies

SoFi Technologies (SOFI -0.45%) has faced plenty of sceptics since going public in 2021. Many investors viewed it as a niche player in student loan refinancing, doubting it could ever achieve profitability.

Fast-forward to today, and SoFi not only generates consistent profits, it’s expanding into new areas that have the market buzzing. Shares recently surged to fresh highs, putting the company squarely in the fintech spotlight.

Here are three reasons why everyone is talking about SoFi right now — and what investors should keep in mind before following the crowd into buying the stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

A different kind of bank

SoFi isn’t your typical bank. While most financial institutions make money through a patchwork of branches, tellers, and specialized divisions, SoFi operates as a digital-first platform. Its pitch is simple: Manage your entire financial life in one app.

That means you can open a checking account, refinance a loan, trade stocks or crypto, and even buy into new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — all in one account. The company’s strategy is to cross-sell as many products as possible to each customer, increasing engagement and lowering churn.

This integrated approach matters. Traditional banks often specialize in one area — say, deposits and mortgages — while a brokerage focuses on investing. By integrating everything into a single ecosystem, SoFi increases switching costs and fosters long-term customer loyalty.

Financials are finally clicking

For years, critics argued that SoFi could attract users but not profits. And they were right, at least until 2023.

But that narrative is shifting as Sofi has delivered two consecutive years of positive adjusted net income and continues to do so in 2025. In the second quarter of 2025, adjusted net revenue rose 44% year over year to $858 million. Adjusted net income surged 459% to $97 million. The solid performance is a result of a record high in new members, new products, and an increase in fee-based revenue.

Membership growth was equally impressive. SoFi added 846,000 new members in Q2 2025, pushing its base to 11.7 million — more than double what it had three years ago. Crucially, the mix of revenue is changing. Fee-based revenue contributed 44% of total revenue, indicating the company has expanded beyond its student loan financing roots.

Even its lending portfolio has performed well of late as the company originated a record $8.8 billion in loans in the quarter, while bad debt charge-off has largely been declining over the last few quarters. Expectations for lower interest rates could also further boost lending volumes and profitability in the coming quarters.

Beyond banking

SoFi could easily stop at being a profitable digital bank. Instead, management is pushing into new frontiers. The company will restart its crypto service this year, enabling members to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum. While volatile, crypto broadens SoFi’s appeal among younger and more tech-savvy users.

It also launched new investment products, like the SoFi Agentic AI ETF, designed to capture investor interest in artificial intelligence. Beyond ETFs, SoFi is expanding into private market funds, giving retail investors access to opportunities once reserved for institutions.

These moves highlight SoFi’s ambition to build a full-spectrum financial platform. But they also come with risk. Each market brings established competitors — from Robinhood Markets in trading, to BlackRock in asset management, to Coinbase Global in crypto. Execution and regulatory oversight will be ongoing challenges that investors should track.

What does it mean for investors?

SoFi is no longer just a one-dimensional fintech tied to student loans. It’s becoming a diversified platform with real profitability and a broad set of growth levers. That’s why the stock is getting so much attention right now.

Still, investors should recognize the risks. Valuations already incorporate optimism — as of this writing, the stock trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 62 times — and SoFi must prove it can balance banking, investing, and emerging areas like crypto without losing focus.

For growth investors, the pitch is straightforward. If SoFi can scale its ecosystem while executing on new growth bets, it has the potential to be a defining financial company of this generation.

Either way, it’s worth keeping the stock on watch.

Shares of Opendoor Technologies (OPEN -5.67%) were trading lower for the second day in a row today after hedge fund manager Eric Jackson seemed to prompt a rotation to Better Home & Finance after naming it as his next 100-bagger pick yesterday on X.

Opendoor, which had gained more than 2,000% over the last three months on a meme stock rally, continued to give up those gains and was down 10.9% as of 10:22 a.m. ET. Better Home & Finance, on the other hand, was up 27.5% at the same time.

Image source: Getty Images.

Is the Opendoor rally fading?

Jackson has been the unofficial leader of the Opendoor meme stock surge, originally setting it off with the argument that Opendoor could be the next Carvana, as the online used-car dealer has jumped more than 100 times since avoiding bankruptcy nearly three years ago.

Opendoor’s surge over the last three months shows that that argument has resonated, and the rally even helped usher in a leadership change. However, the fundamentals of Opendoor’s business haven’t changed, and at some point, that will matter.

While falling mortgage rates should favor the company, that won’t make it profitable by itself.

What’s next for Opendoor?

Since stepping into the CEO chair last week, Kaz Nejatian has been tirelessly promoting the company on social media and touting changes it’s made.

Opendoor expanded its product to all 50 states, up from just 50 markets previously, and Nejatian said on X last night that the company has an exciting product coming out in the next week.

Changes are afoot at Opendoor, but it will take time for them to have an impact on the business. There are still good reasons to doubt the online home flipper’s business model, but investors clearly want to see disruption from Nejatian.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR -10.21%) didn’t have timing on its side with its latest round of capital raising. The cryptocurrency mining and holding company that concentrates on Ethereum saw its share price sag by more than 10% on Monday after it provided details of a share sale. That came on a trading day when the S&P 500 index closed up by 0.4%.

A big share and warrant sale

That morning, Bitmine divulged that it signed a purchase agreement for an institutional investor to buy slightly over 5.2 million shares of its common stock. That investor, which the company did not identify, is paying $70 per share for the stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

It is also receiving warrants to buy an additional pack of up to 10.4 million-plus shares at an exercise price of $87.50 apiece. Bitmine wrote that the “Potential future aggregate proceeds from the warrants represent approximately $913 million from cash exercises.”

All told, the company added, the total take from these issues could be roughly $1.28 billion.

Future 5% holder?

Bitmine has set a goal of acquiring 5% of total available Ethereum. Helpfully, and also on Monday, it offered an update on its holdings of the popular cryptocurrency. It wrote in a press release that its portfolio of Ethereum now tops 2% of supply.

That amount has ramped up quite considerably of late. Fueled by $20 billion in equity financing, in late August, the company snapped up almost 200,000 Ethereum. Prior to that buy-in, Bitmine held less than 1%.

Unfortunately for the company, its twin announcements came on the heels of a broad cryptocurrency sell-off this past weekend, which leaked into Monday trading. Timing is often critical in the ever-volatile cryptoverse; the bright side of this is that investor sentiment on Bitmine could improve quite drastically once Ethereum starts to head north in value again.

Lumen Technologies (LUMN 9.11%) saw a very healthy bounce in its stock price on Monday, following the telecom company’s latest operational update. Investors enthusiastically traded the tech and telecom stock up by 9% in reaction to the news, a figure that was more than good enough to beat the 0.4% rise of the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.44%).

Powered by fiber

That morning, Lumen announced that so far this year, it’s added over 2.2 million new intercity miles to its existing fiber-optic network. This is a technology that allows for much faster data transmission speeds than more traditional methods. At such a pace, the company expects to have 16.6 million intercity fiber miles by the end of this year.

Image source: Getty Images.

Ultimately, the telecom’s goal is to wire America with 47 million intercity fiber miles by the end of 2028, which counts on a continued and rather aggressive build-out schedule. This is a foundational aim of its broader Big Build program.

Fiber is appropriate for our modern age, as it can handle the vast chunks of data required to power artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities.

Lumen quoted its executive vice president of enterprise operations Kye Prigg as saying, “AI is fueling a surge in network demand like we’ve never seen, and Lumen is building the backbone to meet it.”

A good-looking play on AI

Recently, many investors have cooled on the stocks most closely identified with the Great AI Boom. Currently, they’re looking for less obvious plays in companies that should benefit from the increased resource needs of the technology, and Lumen fits the bill. Assuming its fiber rollout goes at least close to plan, the company’s stock should stay in the good graces of the market.

Shares of hard disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology (STX 2.12%) rallied this week, up 11.8% this week through 1:54 p.m. ET Friday, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Seagate had a relatively quiet week in terms of company-specific news; however, positive data around demand for storage at the edge due to a spike in artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing has led to several analyst upgrades this week.

Seagate gets massive upgrades

Artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related stocks were already on the rise this week, following the last week’s blockbuster AI guidance from Oracle, along with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut this week — the Fed’s first cut since last year.

Lower interest rates generally mean lower costs of capital, and large tech stocks are spending boatloads of cash on AI infrastructure this year. So lower interest rates bring the prospects of only fueling that spending even more.

Meanwhile, the composition of that infrastructure is changing, moving from training generative AI models to inferencing, which is the use of those models in everyday tasks.

Inferencing is leading to a new wave of investment in edge storage, where Seagate’s HAMR technology leads the industry in terms of squeezing more TB of data onto each disk. That led to a couple of sell-side analysts upgrading the stock this week.

On Monday, Bank of America upgraded its price target on Seagate from $170 to $215 while reaffirming its “buy” rating, based on a more optimistic outlook for AI spending. Then today, Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh increased his target on Seagate by an even greater amount, from $160 all the way to $245. Rakesh’s upgrade follows channel checks indicating strong demand and rising prices for both hard disk drives and NAND flash.

Image source: Getty Images.

But remember: Storage is cyclical

After this week’s surge, Seagate is up a whopping 155.4% year to date, exceeding the gains of many more popular AI leaders.

And while things look rosy today, the memory and storage industry has been quite cyclical in the past, leading to a boom-and-bust dynamic. We’re clearly in a “boom” stage right now, and the length of that stage will be determined by how long the AI infrastructure build-out will take. Many believe it will take several years, but investors should be aware that any macroeconomic hiccups or flagging demand for AI services could lead to severe pullbacks.

Shares of Opendoor Technologies (OPEN 13.23%) are soaring on Wednesday, up 6.5% as of 2:58 p.m. ET. The jump comes as the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.11%) lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.17%) lost 0.9%.

A regulatory filing from the company, as well as the Federal Reserve’s rate cut confirmation, is sending Opendoor stock flying.

Opendoor is expanding its reach

The company filed an 8-K disclosure with the SEC, revealing that it “intends to expand its product offerings to allow [Opendoor] to provide services through the entire continental United States in the coming weeks, through one or more of its direct cash offer, cash plus, or working with its partner agents to provide listing services.”

The revelation that the company is officially expanding to the entire U.S. market is fueling investor enthusiasm.

Image source: Getty Images

Powell confirms rate cut is here

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell confirmed today that the central bank will cut the federal funds rate by 0.25%. Rate cuts generally boost equities across the board, but as a real estate company, Opendoor’s bottom line is directly impacted by interest rates. Lowered rates will help improve the company’s margins.

Opendoor still has to prove its business model can work

While the digital real estate disruptor operates in a market with genuine potential for innovation, the economics of its model remain unproven. The company is operating at a loss and relies heavily on debt, making it sensitive to interest rates, and the real estate market doesn’t look particularly strong. I would avoid Opendoor stock.

Shares of Opendoor Technologies (OPEN 5.24%) were moving higher today, even as there was no news out on the volatile online home flipper.

Instead, investors seemed to be looking forward to Wednesday’s rate decision from the Federal Reserve, which will include commentary and a forecast on future rate cuts. Investors widely expect the central bank to cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday. CEO Kaz Nejatian also began his first day on the job.

As of 10:33 a.m. ET, Opendoor stock was up 11.5%.

Image source: Getty Images.

What the Fed rate decision means for Opendoor

Since its business is so closely tied to the housing market, few stocks seem to have more to gain from falling rates than Opendoor does, as housing is likely to bounce back as rates come down.

In addition to the expected rate cut of 25 basis points, we’ll also get some insight into the direction of future rate cuts, as the Fed will also release its quarterly “dot plot” projections, in addition to Fed chair Jerome Powell’s commentary at the press conference.

Back in June, the Fed had forecast 50 basis points of cuts this year, but that forecast could change as the labor market has softened substantially in the last couple of months.

New Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian is also starting in the job today, and co-founder Keith Rabois is back as  chairman, which is likely to accelerate changes in the business.

What’s next for Opendoor?

Opendoor’s volatility will almost certainly continue through the coming weeks and months, as it’s turned into a meme stock, but one with a legitimate chance at a turnaround now with new leadership in place and interest rates expected to fall.

Expect the stock to swing on Wednesday as well. While the rate cut is likely priced in at this point, the stock will move based on commentary and the forecast from the Fed.

Yesterday was a big day for Opendoor Technologies (OPEN -10.88%) stock. Shares of the online real estate platform skyrocketed 80% yesterday after it named a new CEO. Retail investors have been rallying behind Opendoor, turning it into the latest meme stock.

Today, though, investors are booking those gains. Co-founder and new chairman Keith Rabois squashed some of the excitement surrounding the stock in a CNBC interview this morning. Shares had plunged by 15.4% at 1:17 p.m. ET.

Image source: Getty Images.

Is Opendoor bloated and broken?

Rabois and co-founder Eric Wu were brought back to the board of directors yesterday after Kaz Nejatian, formerly chief operating officer of Shopify, was appointed CEO. Today, Rabois said of the company’s 1,400-member workforce, “I don’t know what most of them do.” He stressed that a headcount reduction would be coming as more than 200 current employees aren’t needed, in his opinion.

Rabois called the workforce “bloated” from the ability to work remotely. He added this:

The culture was broken. These people were working remotely. That doesn’t work. This company was founded on the principle of innovation and working together in person. We’re going to return to our roots.

Rabois also contended that Opendoor was not, as many investors claim, a meme stock. Shares have rocketed more than 1,300% in the last three months behind retail trader support.

Rather, he said the retail movement in stocks is healthy as consumers, not professional money managers, are deciding what stocks to support.

That’s bound to be a controversial point of view. Investors who own Opendoor for the momentum of a meme stock might be dumping shares today. That’s probably a smart move, too. Eventually, business fundamentals will win out. A turnaround in the housing sector might be what saves Opendoor’s currently unprofitable business, but that remains to be seen.

Palantir Technologies shares have advanced 1,760% since the launch of its artificial intelligence platform in April 2023. Its market capitalization now stands at $369 billion as of September 8, which puts it among the 30 largest public companies in the world.

I think Shopify (SHOP -1.86%) and Uber Technologies (UBER 1.05%) can surpass Palantir’s current market capitalization within five years. Here’s what that means for shareholders:

• Shopify is worth $189 billion. Its market value must increase 96% to hit $370 billion, in which case the stock would return more than 14% annually over the next five years.
• Uber is worth $197 billion. Its market value must increase 88% to hit $370 billion, in which case the stock would return more than 13% annually over the next five years.

Importantly, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.27%) has historically advanced roughly 10% per year, so my predictions almost certainly imply market-beating returns for Shopify and Uber shareholders. Here’s why I’m confident.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Shopify

Shopify reported excellent financial results in the second quarter, beating estimates on the top and bottom lines. Revenue increased 31% to $2.6 billion as growth accelerated across North American, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Non-GAAP net income increased 35% to $0.35 per diluted share.

The investment thesis for Shopify centers on its leadership in e-commerce software. Its platform helps merchants manage their businesses across physical and digital storefronts from a single dashboard. The company also provides adjacent solutions for payments, advertising, logistics, and cross-border commerce.

Shopify is focused on several strategic growth areas, including business-to-business (B2B) commerce, a category that is three times bigger than business-to-consumer (B2C) commerce and growing just as quickly. Forrester Research last year recognized Shopify as a leader in B2B commerce solutions, validating its push into the market. The company said B2B sales increased 101% in the second quarter.

Shopify is leaning into demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Shopify Magic is a suite of AI features that help merchants automate tasks like writing product descriptions, generating marketing content, and providing customer support. Additionally, the company earlier this year introduced an AI tool that builds entire online storefronts from a few keywords.

Wall Street expects Shopify’s earnings to increase at 34% annually during the next three to five years. That makes the current valuation of 81 times earnings look somewhat expensive. But if Shopify meets the consensus estimate, its price-to-earnings multiple could fall to 38 while its market value increased 100% to $378 billion by mid-2030. That means Shopify can surpass Palantir’s current market value within five years.

2. Uber Technologies

Uber reported encouraging financial results in the second quarter. beating the consensus estimate on the top line and matching the consensus estimate on the bottom line. Revenue increased 18% to $12.7 billion, an acceleration from 14% growth in the previous quarter, because of strength in the mobility and delivery segments. GAAP net income increased 34% to $0.63 per diluted share.

Uber may not be top of mind when investors think about artificial intelligence stocks, but the company uses AI to set prices, match drivers and riders, and optimize routes. Moreover, its position as the largest on-demand mobility and delivery platform in the world makes it an ideal partner for autonomous driving companies that want to commercialize robotaxi services.

Uber has partnered with 20 autonomous driving companies, including Alphabet‘s Waymo, Pony AI, and WeRide. Robotaxis are already available on its platform in four markets: Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix in the United States; and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Uber expects about five more deployments in 2025, with more to follow in 2026.

Additionally, Uber in some cases is helping partner companies develop autonomous driving technology. “An underappreciated aspect of our strategy is just how central we are to the real-world AI revolution,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in prepared remarks. “The advanced AI systems that perceive, predict, and make split-second decisions on the road need enormous amounts of data, and Uber has the most relevant mobility ride-hail dataset in the world.”

Wall Street expects Uber’s earnings to increase at 22% annually over the next three to five years. That makes the current valuation of 16 times earnings look relatively cheap. And if Uber meets that consensus, its price-to-earnings ratio could fall to 12 while its market value increased 105% to $387 billion by mid-2030. That means Uber can surpass Palantir’s current market value within five years.

SoFi Technologies (SOFI 0.02%) is attracting lots of investor attention these days, and understandably so. Its stock up more than 160% from its April low, and higher to the tune of 260% for the past year. That’s huge.

But is it actually the buy the crowd seems to think it is? Yes. And no.

Here’s some food for thought if this ticker’s made its way onto your radar but not yet made its way into your portfolio.

What’s SoFi Technologies?

SoFi is an online bank, except it’s only an online bank; it doesn’t operate any brick-and-mortar branches. That doesn’t mean it can’t offer everything a traditional bank does, though. Checking and savings accounts, investment services, loans, insurance, and credit cards are all in its repertoire.

It’s no mere experiment either. The $30 billion company serves more than 11.7 million customers and boasts $36.3 billion in assets. And of last quarter’s revenue of $855 million (a fairly typical quarter), nearly $98 million of that was turned into net income.

Image source: Getty Images.

Of all these numbers, however, the most impressive is SoFi’s current customer headcount.

While its 11.7 million members pales in comparison to the customer bases of Wells Fargo and Bank of America, it’s incredible for a bank that’s only been chartered since January of 2022. Making this customer count figure even more impressive is the fact that it’s grown every single quarter since the first quarter of 2020, when it was still more of a fintech middleman with a limited number of offerings. In fact, on an absolute basis SoFi’s customer growth is still accelerating rather than slowing down, with last quarter’s year-over-year member growth of 34% carrying its customer count to yet another record-breaking figure of 11.7 million.

The new norm

The company is of course plugged into the massive shift in the way most consumers live their lives. That’s online, and in particular, through their favorite connected device — their smartphone.

A survey commissioned by the American Bankers Association late last year tells the tale. Of the 4,508 adults questioned, only 8% said in-branch visits were their preferred way of handling banking business, while only 4% named telephone calls as their top means of taking care of any banking matters. At the other end of the scale, 22% of respondents reported they were managing their bank accounts using a laptop or PC, while a whopping 55% of these consumers said a mobile app was their favorite banking tool. And it should come as no real surprise that younger people were far more likely than older customers to utilize their digital options.

SoFi’s growth simply reflects this new norm, which of course corresponds with the ongoing aging of digitally native consumers.

More of the same is in the cards too. Market research outfit Technavio believes the worldwide digital banking business is set to grow at an average annualized pace of more than 16% through 2029. The U.S. market that SoFi Technologies serves is expected to see the most growth during this stretch. For its part, analysts believe SoFi’s top and bottom lines will nearly double between last year and 2027.

Data source: StockAnalysis.com, SimplyWallSt.com, Marketwatch. Chart by author.

The kicker: At least some of this future growth will be driven by the company’s foray into business lines beyond basic banking. In July, for instance, the bank offered access to an expanded lineup of private investments, and earlier this month launched another of its own sponsored exchange-traded funds — the SoFi Agentic AI ETF (AGIQ 0.26%). This willingness to establish new profit centers underscores the idea that the company is casting an ever-widening net.

Right stock, wrong time

So it’s a buy? Not so fast.

There’s never a bad time to buy a good stock, to be clear. But there are certainly better times than others. Right now arguably isn’t the best time to buy this one.

The issue is the sheer scope of SoFi stock’s run-up just since the middle of last year. While its bullishness is understandable, it’s also too much, too fast. Shares have more than doubled in value in just a little over a year, pushing them to a recently reached record that’s more than 20% above the analyst community’s current consensus price target of $20.72.

The stock’s valuation of nearly 50 times next year’s expected per-share earnings of $0.52 is also steep for any stock, but it’s particularly rich for a bank — even one growing as quickly as SoFi Technologies. So interested investors might want to wait for a pullback before plowing in. The good news is, we’ve frequently seen lulls from this ticker before.

Just don’t get too picky if you want to buy in. It’s unlikely you’ll see what you might consider a great price for this stock anytime soon; any modest lull may be all you’re going to get. The growth here is just too strong and the company’s story is too compelling to expect any major pullback from the stock.

Opendoor Technologies (OPEN -6.69%) stock popped by as much as 10% Monday morning. The stock remains highly volatile, and its next move showed investors why it’s a risky bet. Shares lost all of those gains and more in heavy midday trading.

As of 1:22 p.m. ET, Opendoor stock was lower by 3.8% on the day.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meme stocks aren’t for investors

Traders who frequent the forums on social media platforms like Reddit have turned Opendoor into a meme stock. That has led to retail traders and some investors following it closely. Shares popped early Monday after reports were published highlighting a 30,000-share purchase by Opendoor’s interim CEO.

Those reports triggered some heavy trading in the name; it surpassed its 65-day average trading volume only halfway through the session. The problem is that Shrisha Radhakrishna’s 30,000-share purchase occurred on Aug. 28 — after he was named as temporary CEO when Carrie Wheeler stepped down from the top job.

Another catalyst driving Monday’s early move higher was a push on social media over the weekend to bring back co-founder Keith Rabois. There has been no indication from Rabois that he would be returning to Opendoor.

Another factor that may be contributing to jumps by Opendoor is the stock’s high short interest. As of mid-August, more than 24% of Opendoor’s stock was held by short-sellers. That means any move higher may get enhanced by a short squeeze.

All of those things are really just short-term noise for long-term investors, though. Opendoor’s business has been struggling amid a sluggish housing market. With the Federal Reserve expected to begin lowering its benchmark interest rates soon, the housing market could get some relief. However, with retail traders driving the action for Opendoor stock, investing in it remains a risky proposition.

After breaking out in July, Opendoor Technologies (OPEN 0.98%) soared again in August, climbing on the thesis that the business would turn around on new signs that the Fed would cut interest rates. Investors also reacted positively to news that CEO Carrie Wheeler would be stepping down, showing hopes that a new leader could help drive a turnaround.

That general momentum was able to overcome a weak second-quarter earnings report, and the stock is now up nearly 1,000% since it bottomed out in early July.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock jumped 142% over the course of the month. As the chart shows, it was a volatile month for Opendoor, but the upward movements clearly outnumbered the pullbacks.

OPEN data by YCharts

Retail investors are still in

Toward the end of July, there were signs that the rally in the stock was fading after trading volume had soared earlier in a meme stock rally that seemed to begin with an argument on social media platforms like X and Reddit. Hedge fund manager Eric Jackson argued that the stock could be the next Carvana, since Opendoor was essentially left for dead as investors gave up on the home flipper’s business model due to a weak housing market and disappointing financial results.

Opendoor stock got a second wind in August after a subpar unemployment report kicked off August, sending the stock higher on hopes that it would lead the Fed to cut interest rates. The stock then pulled back after its second-quarter earnings report showed the business is still struggling, and its guidance called for revenue to fall on a sequential basis in the third quarter. It began a new rally in the second week of the month as an inflation report added to hopes that the Fed would cut interest rates, and Wheeler announced her resignation.

Finally, Opendoor stock jumped nearly 40% on Aug. 22 after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled in his Jackson Hole address that it would be appropriate to cut interest rates in September. The stock pulled back over the rest of August, but jumped again to start September.

Image source: Getty Images.

Can Opendoor keep gaining?

It’s been a remarkable rally for a stock that has now topped $5 a share, just two months after it was trading around $0.50 a share. 

Opendoor is still a small company at a market cap of $3.8 billion, but at some point, the business will have to show real improvement. Still, for now, if interest rates do come down and the housing market starts to show signs of life, the stock is likely to move higher. 

Interest in artificial intelligence went parabolic following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022. Since then, Nvidia stock has advanced 1,090% to a market value of $4.2 trillion. And Palantir Technologies stock has climbed 2,340% to a market value of $370 billion. That means the companies are collectively worth $4.6 trillion.

I predict Meta Platforms (META -1.69%) will surpass that figure in no more than five years (i.e., before the end of 2030). The company is currently worth $1.9 trillion, which means its share price must increase by about 247% for its market value to reach $4.7 trillion. Here’s why I think that could happen.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meta Platforms is a digital advertising giant with deep AI expertise

Meta Platforms owns three of the four most popular social media platforms as measured by monthly active users. That competitive advantage lets it collect consumer data on a tremendous scale, and that data helps brands target ad campaigns. As a result, Meta is the second-largest adtech company worldwide and is likely to gain market share, according to Morningstar.

Meta has already made strides in boosting engagement with artificial intelligence (AI). CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts on the second-quarter earnings call, “Advancements in our recommendation systems have improved quality so much that it has led to a 5% increase in time spent on Facebook and 6% on Instagram.” He also said that advertising conversion rates increased across both social media platforms, meaning more clicks and purchases.

Importantly, Meta is investing aggressively in AI infrastructure and aspires to automate the entire ad creation process by next year. The Wall Street Journal writes, “Using the ad tools Meta is developing, a brand could present an image of the product it wants to promote along with a budgetary goal, and AI would create the entire ad, including imagery, video, and text.”

Meta’s Orion smart glasses could be the next big consumer electronics product

Meta Platforms is the market leader in smart glasses, a nascent market where shipments more than tripled last year and are forecast to increase faster than 60% annually through 2029. And Meta is actually gaining market share. Its Ray-Ban smart glasses accounted for nearly three-quarters of shipments in the first half of 2025, up from 60% in 2024.

Counterpoint Research writes, “Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses redefine the smart glasses experience by integrating wearable AI while combining a stylish design with enhanced smart functionalities.” The company sees a large opportunity on the horizon. Zuckerberg believes smart glasses could replace smartphones as the personal computing form factor of choice within the next 15 years.

To capitalize, Meta announced Orion last year, smart glasses that incorporate augmented reality (AR) that overlays the physical world with holographic displays. The company will not commercialize the product for several years while it works to make the technology less expensive. However, smart glasses that blend AR and AI could be revolutionary, as they would enable wearers to search the internet, talk with friends, and watch media content without phones.

Apple rose to great heights following its introduction of the iPhone in 2007. If Zuckerberg is correct about smart glasses being the next big breakthrough in consumer electronics, Meta could become the Apple of the next decade, which means its market value could increase substantially in the years ahead.

Meta Platforms could be a $4.7 billion company by mid-2030

To summarize, Meta has a strong presence in digital advertising and a leadership position in smart glasses. Adtech spending is forecasted to grow at a rate of 14% annually through 2032, while smart glasses sales are projected to increase by more than 60% annually through 2029. In total, that gives Meta a reasonable shot at annual earnings growth of 20%+ in the next five years.

That outlook makes the current valuation of 26.7 times earnings seem quite reasonable. And if Meta does grow earnings at 20% annually over the next five years, its share price could increase by 149% without any change in the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. That would bring its market value to $4.7 trillion by mid-2030, surpassing the current combined market value of Nvidia and Palantir.

Opendoor (OPEN 6.34%) stock is seeing substantial gains in Thursday’s trading. The iBuying real estate company’s share price was up 4.1% as of 1 p.m. ET and had been up as much as 11.7% earlier in the session.

After big sell-offs in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s daily sessions, Opendoor stock is seeing some recovery momentum in today’s trading. While there are no clear-cut, business-specific catalysts behind the move, there are a couple of factors that could be playing a role in the company’s gains today.

Image source: Getty Images.

Opendoor stock rises as Q2 GDP comes in higher than expected

The U.S. Commerce Department published gross domestic product (GDP) data for this year’s second quarter this morning, and growth came in stronger than anticipated. U.S. GDP grew at a 3.3% annual rate in Q2, topping the average economist forecast’s call for growth of 3% in the period. While the real estate market has been seeing some mixed indicators lately, stronger GDP growth could help support home sales and create a more favorable operating backdrop for Opendoor.

Did Opendoor stock inadvertently get a boost from Mad Money‘s Jim Cramer?

In yesterday’s episode of Mad Money on CNBC, host Jim Cramer said that Opendoor was a “meme stock” and said that he wouldn’t be jumping into the stock in hopes of profiting from the surge in bullish momentum it’s seen this year. As of this writing, the stock is up 164% across 2025’s trading.

While Cramer’s comments on the stock could come across as negative or ambivalent, they may have also had the effect of bringing more attention to the company. Additionally, many meme-stock traders seem to have a negative view on the Mad Money host’s coverage in general — and some intentionally make trades that are contrary to his positions. On the other hand, Opendoor has been prone to making big moves on little or no news recently — so it’s impossible to definitively state that the stock’s recent feature on Cramer’s show is a driving factor in its move today.

Shares of Opendoor Technologies (OPEN 27.50%) are flying higher on Friday, up 24.8% as of 1:15 p.m. ET. The jump comes as the S&P 500 gained 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.7%.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave a speech this morning that signaled interest rate cuts could be coming. The news sent stocks across the market higher, but the effect was especially large for many riskier stocks like Opendoor’s.

Why Fed rate cuts matter for Opendoor stock

Speaking at the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, Powell highlighted that the economic picture is mixed with a lot of moving parts complicating the Fed’s decision. The Fed chief acknowledged that the economy is showing resilience, but downside risks are increasing. He appeared particularly concerned about tariffs potentially reigniting inflation. Still, he indicated cuts are coming, though he didn’t explicitly say so.

Opendoor stock flew higher on the news as more speculative investments like Opendoor tend to do better in low interest rate environments. The effect was even larger for Opendoor, however, because the company’s business model is heavily affected by interest rates. Rate cuts could help boost its bottom line.

Image source: Getty Images.

This meme rally could end for Opendoor stock

While the digital real estate disruptor operates in a massive market with genuine innovation potential, its competitive moat remains questionable. The meme-stock rally has been fueled by the idea that AI can unlock the company’s true potential. While the idea is interesting, there’s no guarantee it will work.

In the meantime, the company is operating in the red, relies heavily on debt, and the real estate market does not look particularly promising at the moment. I would avoid the stock.

May 20 (UPI) — The United States and United Arab Emirates are deepening their commercial and defensive ties following President Donald Trump‘s recent diplomatic trip to the Middle East.

Officials with the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit and the UAE’s Tawazun Council signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen defense cooperation between the two nations, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday in a news release.

“We are building a global network by fostering collaboration to stay ahead of emerging threats,” DIU Director Doug Beck said.

“We are accelerating the integration of commercial technologies into the defense markets,” Beck added.

He said the accelerated integration of technologies will occur by working together to develop technologies with the help of national security and private sector experts and non-traditional companies.

The MOU includes using “non-traditional practices” to develop and access “cutting-edge technologies” to improve both nations’ defensive capabilities.

The collaborative effort expands defensive investments and industrial partnerships while building a “strong international community of defense innovation entities, according to the DOD.

The Defense Department “is enhancing best practices for harnessing and sharing the best commercially derived technologies for the warfighter in defense of the free and open international system through mission-driven collaboration among the many nations that rely on that system,” the DOD release said.

Trump on Thursday also announced $200 billion in commercial agreements between the United States and the UAE.

The agreement includes forming an artificial intelligence alliance and launching a 1-gigawatt and jointly run AI technology cluster that will be located in the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi.

Other elements of the $200 billion deal include the UAE’s Etihad Airways spending $14.5 billion to buy 28 U.S.-built Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines.

Emirates Global Aluminum will invest another $4 billion to develop an aluminum smelter in Oklahoma and double that nation’s annual aluminum production capability.

UAE entities also will collaborate with U.S.-based oil and natural gas producers to expand production of both inside the United States and to lower energy costs in both nations.

Many other deals were secured during Trump’s visit to the Middle East last week and total $2 trillion in investment agreements, according to White House officials.