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Opendoor rises as JPMorgan boosts earnings estimates following Q4 results

New CEO Kaz Nejatian said the cohort of homes purchased in October, his first full month running the company, is poised to be Opendoor’s most profitable October ever.

Luke Kawa

Opendoor Technologies is surging after its Q4 results showed the new management team’s plans to turn around the online real real estate company are bearing fruit.

Shares are up roughly 16% as of 9 a.m. ET after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 sales and adjusted EBITDA, along with guidance for a bottom-line loss in Q1 that included less red ink than Wall Street had feared.

While its Q1 revenue outlook disappointed, CFO Christy Schwartz attributed the anticipated 10% quarter-on-quarter decline to how aggressively older inventory had been cleared in Q4, with homes sold having surprised to the upside by 20%. As such, the company will use Q1 to “rebuild inventory with higher-quality homes that underpin our improved unit economics,” she said.

Early in the conference call, CEO Kaz Nejatian spotlighted the profitability of Opendoor’s October operations, which marked the first full month with him in charge of the company.

That month of home acquisitions, he said, “is on track to be the most profitable October cohort in company history,” based on its contribution margin, which is the how much Opendoor earns on the sale of homes following holding costs and selling costs as a share of revenue.

“We achieved this in the middle of the most aggressive market expansion in Opendoor’s history. Given that this isn’t really the strongest housing market, this performance I think shows a structural shift in how we operate, a shift that I genuinely think will be durable across macro cycles,” he said. “We are no longer a prop desk — we’re now a market maker.”

JPMorgan analyst Dae Lee kept an “overweight” rating and $8 price target on the stock in the wake of these results, while boosting adjusted EBITDA and earnings estimates for this year and the next. Lee also trimmed his top-line expectations for 2026 and 2027.

“We remain encouraged by leadership’s energy and believe OPEN’s transformation, product innovation, and speed will drive upside over time,” he wrote. “Near-term results reflect prior strategies, but reduced spreads and a tailored approach are already accelerating acquisitions and rebuilding volume.”

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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