Opendoor stock falls as Martin Shkreli announces short position

Investing.com -- Opendoor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:OPEN) stock fell 5% after investor Martin Shkreli announced he had taken a short position in the company, previously calling it "an obvious short."

Shkreli revealed on social media that he initiated his first trade in the stock by shorting it at $9.36. He plans to conduct due diligence calls with former employees, customers, competitors, and potentially management, promising to share transcripts or call invites "as appropriate."

The short position comes after Shkreli’s successful bet against aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:ATYR), which saw that stock plummet 80% following failed clinical trial results. Shkreli had previously indicated he wasn’t shorting Opendoor as he was fully focused on the aTyr position.

This development interrupts Opendoor’s recent momentum, with the stock having surged over 1500% in the past three months from all-time lows. The rally was largely driven by activist investor Eric Jackson and retail investors in what many have described as a "meme stock" moment.

Just last week, Opendoor announced leadership changes, naming Shopify’s Chief Operating Officer Kaz Nejatian as its new CEO and bringing co-founder Keith Rabois back as chairman. Co-founder Eric Wu is also rejoining the board, with Rabois’ Khosla Ventures and Wu investing $40 million to "accelerate growth." The appointments were the culmination of Jackson and co’s activist push, and the stock continued its surge, now up over 1,500% in the past 3 months.

Opendoor, which operates an online platform for buying and selling real estate, went public via SPAC in 2020. After falling to a record-low market valuation of approximately $400 million in June, the company’s value had rebounded to over $6 billion before today’s decline.

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