'I'm not here to pump up a stock': The hedge funder who sparked a speculative frenzy says he's not playing the meme stock game
Eric Jackson, the founder of EMJ Capital, is bullish on Opendoor —the online real estate platform that embarked on a blistering rally after he posted his thesis on X —but it isn't a meme stock, he says.
In his eyes, it's the real deal, a pandemic-era darling with big turnaround potential despite a 92% tumble since its peak.
Jackson is known for what ended up being a correctly bullish call on Carvana in 2023. He laid out his views on Opendoor on social media on July 14, sparking not only a rapid rise in the stock, which also seems to have revived the meme stock trade among a newer group of unloved stocks, including Kohl's, Krispy Kreme, and GoPro.
But for Jackson, Opendoor isn't a joke. He declined to disclose the value of his firm's stake, but it's now the single biggest position in EMJ Capital's portfolio, he told Business Insider.
"I never thought of it that way," he said of investors who called Opendoor a meme stock. "So I sort of take offense, because I find all the meme stocks to be, to me, kind of terrible businesses that I would never want to own. Whereas I see Opendoor as a legitimate turnaround story."
Opendoor will probably be the only company among the meme-stock cohort that won't be forgotten about by next week, he said, adding that he sees the latest speculative buying spree fizzling out. Indeed, most of this week's meme stock cohort was already giving up their biggest gains by midday on Friday.
Opendoor's stock price spiked as high as $4.97 this week in intraday trading, an almost 830% increase in July.
The stock has since pared its gains, trading around $2.46 a share on Friday, but Jackson still thinks shares could hit $82 within the next several years, a gain that would mark a 3,200% increase from current levels.
The next leg-up for the stock could come in the next few weeks when the company reports third-quarter earnings, Jackson said.
'I'm not here to pump up a stock'
Opendoor first appeared on Jackson's radar in 2022, around the time he started paying attention to Carvana. In a podcast called "The Compound and Friends," he said he believed both companies, which were struggling at the time, could stage a massive turnaround.
His bet on Carvana paid off. Shares of the online used car retailer have risen almost 7,000% since the beginning of 2023.
The bet on Opendoor — until now — did not. The stock traded between $1-$3 a share around the time Jackson finally gave up on the call and cashed out his shares nine months ago.
"It's like having a painful ex in your history and you just don't want to look at their Instagram page or something like that, because it just brings up bad feelings," he said.
Jackson thinks the story could be different this time around for a few reasons:
Opendoor stock now looks similar to Carvana when Jackson first made his call on the used car seller. Opendoor shares were trading under $1 around the time he fired off a series of posts about the company on X.
Opendoor has aggressively slashed its costs in recent years. In 2024, it cut its workforce by 17%.
The firm doesn't have much competition in the iBuying space now that Zillow and Redfin have exited that business.
Opendoor was likely "thrown for a loop" by the Fed keeping interest rates higher for longer than expected in 2022 and 2023, Jackson said. High borrowing costs significantly impact the real estate sector, but most investors expect the central bank to cut rates several more times this year, potentially stimulating fresh activity in the housing market.
Opendoor might also be able to benefit from a big AI play, Jackson told BI, citing conversations with a former company insider.
Jackson says what he sees going for Opendoor sets it apart from the meme stocks at the center of this week's euphoric rally.
"Does Kohl's have an AI strategy? Does American Eagle, other than hiring Sydney Sweeney, have an AI strategy? I mean, GoPro — I mean, come on," he said of the other meme stocks in the spotlight.
On social media, Jackson frequently tells his followers he's on the quest to find the next " 100-bagger," a term coined by the investor Chris Mayer to describe an investment that has the potential to return 100 times its value over the long run.
Jackson's firm, which has also started leaning on AI models to identify stocks with glimmers of potential, tries to look for three things, he said:
Have other people given up on the stock?
Does it look substantially mispriced?
Does it look like it has a sustainable turnaround trajectory?
If the answers are "yes," it could be a winning trade, though he acknowledges the approach isn't an exact science.
Successful investments Jackson has made that he deems as 100-baggers include Alibaba, Microsoft, Coinbase, and Roku, he said in a post on X in June.
The Opendoor call, in particular, has garnered him a lot of attention. Speaking to Bloomberg, Jackson said his firm had received 600 calls or emails from people inquiring about his fund and investment ideas in the last several weeks. Since posting the Opendoor thread on X, he told BI he's spoken with investors all over Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America who buy into his call, but he has also come across "a lot of negative stuff" on X about his thesis.
"I guess it comes with the territory when you stick your neck out there as a real person with real thoughts. You get all these anonymous trolls chirping back at you," he said.
"I really hope that if all of retail and all institutional investors truly believe in this $82 story, my hope is they zero in with like, the Death Star on this planet, and just buy and hold," he said, adding that he believed investors could stage a rally similar to Cisco's meteoric rise during the dot-com bubble.
Importantly, he emphasized that he's not a fan of people saying he sparked the meme stock rally.
"But I'm some grifter or flipper, no. I'm in this for the long run. I'm not here to pump up a stock and jump out of it. I've never done that."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Closure of Midwest-based newspaper chain leaves dozens of communities without a news source
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Dozens of communities in the Midwest and West learned Thursday they had lost their newspapers after an Illinois-based publisher announced it would abruptly close because of financial problems. News Media Corp., which owns local newspapers across five states, said it will close 14 operations in Wyoming, seven in Illinois, five in Arizona, four in South Dakota and one in Nebraska. Touting itself as 'the voice of small town America,' NMC's closure affects longtime newspapers that were often the primary source of news in numerous small towns, worsening the problem of news deserts in rural areas. The closure follows a decades-long pattern of financial challenges for local newspapers — the U.S. has lost over one-third of its print newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2004 as the news media has struggled to adopt to a changing readership and revenue landscape, according to the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University. 'Unfortunately, due to financial challenges, a significant economic downturn impacting our industry, revenue losses and increasing expenses, and the recent failure of an attempt to sell the company as a going concern, we have reached a point where continuing business is no longer feasible,' company CEO J.J. Tompkins wrote in a letter to staff Wednesday. News Media Corp. is based in Rochelle, Illinois. Hundreds of employees were terminated immediately, and Tompkins wrote that the company will make 'reasonable efforts to pay you all remaining compensation you have earned.' Staff took to social media to express their shock and disappointment at the news. 'No one in Huron, nor any of the other papers, knew this was coming today,' Benjamin Chase, managing editor of the Huron Plainsman in South Dakota, said in a social media post. 'We're all in shock and attempting to figure out how to move forward.' Josh Linehan, managing editor of the Brookings Register in South Dakota, wrote in a letter to readers, 'It's no secret that it's tough times out there for all print media, and we're no exception.' He added, 'But make no mistake — we're closed for now as a result of poor corporate management.' News Media Corp. did not return a request for comment. Brookings Mayor Ope Niemeyer said the closure of his town's newspaper 'absolutely' leaves a big hole in the community. He said it's devastating for the newspaper's employees and disadvantages the city, County Commission and other local boards that used the newspaper for legal notices. Less than a year ago, Brookings lost the news on its local radio station, which left just the newspaper, now gone, he said. 'Obviously we all have websites and Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram and all that, but there's a generation that doesn't use that,' said Niemeyer, who at 65 prefers a printed newspaper. He liked the newspaper's commentary for fostering conversations. The reporters did a great job telling readers what was going on in Brookings, a city of about 25,000 people, he said. 'It brings the community together,' the mayor said. 'It's an entity that's going to be irreplaceable.' The reasons behind newspaper closures are complex, with multiple factors at play, said Teri Finneman, a professor at the University of Kansas' journalism school and publisher of The Eudora Times. The newspaper industry is using a business model that is two centuries old and unsustainable in 2025, she said. The public also has greater reluctance to pay for local news, too few subscribers are paying too low rates and a lack of social cohesion in the U.S. has led to fracturing and mistrust in news, Finneman said. This has been coupled with declining populations in many rural areas and corporate ownership that often is unfamiliar with running such papers, she said. 'This really needs to be a wake-up call to every town in this nation that your newspaper could be at risk as well and it is incumbent upon people to start supporting their newspapers through subscriptions and through advertising if we are going to keep critical news in these communities,' Finneman said. On Thursday, the Sioux Falls-based Dakota Scout newspaper said it plans to expand coverage in Brookings in response to the closures.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
How to use Instagram Map and set your location-sharing preferences
This week, Instagram introduced a new Snap Map-like feature called Instagram Map that lets U.S. users share their most recent active location with others and discover location-based content. If you decide to turn on your location on Instagram Map, your location only updates when you open the app or have it running in the background, meaning it doesn't provide continuous, real-time location updates. This is different from Snap Map, which lets users choose whether their location is updated only when they open the app or in real time. Meta says location sharing is off by default on Instagram Map. Following concerns around safety, Instagram head Adam Mosseri reassured users that the feature is opt-in, and noted that some people are 'confused' about how the feature works. For instance, people are accessing the feature and then seeing the map populated with the location information of some users. This is because the feature automatically pulls in location tags from recently posted Stories or Reels that include a tagged location. It's worth noting that this isn't new, as Instagram already had location tags visible to users in its map view. However, the new Instagram Map feature makes this information a lot easier to access. The new feature might make you rethink whether you want to post your Stories and Reels with location tags (especially if you're still at the location). For those who want to ensure their location is turned off on Instagram Map, we'll walk you through the steps below. How to access Instagram Map To access the new feature, you need to navigate to your DMs page (direct messages) and tap the new 'Map' option at the top. If it's your first time accessing the feature, you'll likely see a pop-up message notifying you about the new Map. The pop-up will tell you that no one can see your location until you share it with them, and that you can change your settings at any time. How to set your location-sharing preferences The first time you open Map, you will see a page that reads 'Who can see your location.' From there, you can choose to share it with your Friends (followers you follow back), your Close Friends list, select users, or no one. To change your preferences, you need to click on your profile, tap the settings option in the top-right corner, select the 'Story, live and location' option, and then tap the 'Location sharing' button. Here, you will be able to change your settings. Note that if you have location sharing turned off, others can still share their location with you, which means you'll be able to see them on the Map. How to use Instagram Map When you open the app, you will see the locations of friends who have shared their location with you. You will also see location-based Stories and Reels from people you follow. For example, if your friend attended a nearby music festival and posted a story while there, it will appear on the map. Similarly, if a creator you follow posts a reel about a new restaurant in your city, you'll be able to discover it on Instagram Map. You will still see location-based content on the Map even if you have your location turned off. You also can leave short, ephemeral messages, or 'Notes,' on the map for others to see. Instagram Notes are the short messages that currently appear at the top of your direct messaging feed, but with the launch of Instagram Map, you will now see these posts on the map if they're shared with a location.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Edits Gets Streamlined Script Creation and Louder Audio Options
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. Instagram has announced the latest round of updates for its Edits video editing app, with three new features designed to help you put together more creative, engaging video clips. First off, Edits is making it easier to transfer your content ideas into a script, with 'Stickies-to-Teleprompter' conversion, via a simple drop-down command. As you can see in this sequence, now, you'll be able to put down your video script in a sticky note, then transfer that directly to the in-built teleprompter function (which it added a few weeks back). You'll then see your script layered over your recording screen in the app, making it easier to translate your concepts. It's a handy option, which doesn't add a heap in terms of functionality (as you could already use the teleprompter tool), but will save you from having to put your script together in Notes or similar. Edits is also getting a new option to share unpublished drafts direct from the editor, so you can get feedback on your in-progress creations. As you can see in these screens, you'll now be able to send an example of your project, along with a message, via your Instagram DMs. Finally, you can now boost the sound of your clips up to 150%. Why would you want that? I mean, I can't imagine a heap of viewers are super keen to have some blaring, distorted audio. But Instagram says that this has been a highly requested feature, and it could enable alternate effects and approaches that align with modern trends. The Edits team has stayed true to its word in adding features to the app, with more functions and options coming to the app weekly, providing more ways to customize and maximize your Reels clips. And it's definitely becoming a must-have video editing option, which all social media creators should be considering. You can download Edits here. Sign in to access your portfolio
