1 Stock I'd Buy Before Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) in 2026

Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ: OPEN) stock has been an unanticipated winner over the past few months, with meme stock status fueled by social media and retail investor momentum. It ended 2025 up 264%, but it's been falling over the past few months.

There have been some real results of the renewed investor interest, besides the stock movement. The CEO resigned from the company, and it has a new CEO and direction. His take on what needs to be done inspires confidence, but there's a different stock I'd buy before taking on a chance on an Opendoor turnaround.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Opendoor is still risky

Opendoor operates a digital iBuying business, which means it buys and resells loads of homes after some renovations, and it has an online platform to create a simpler buying and selling process. It also uses artificial intelligence (AI) for pricing and identifying trends to find worthwhile purchases and get homes sold.

As you can imagine, this is a capital-intensive business, and in the current pressured housing market, a very challenging one. The company hasn't been able to find too many great homes, since many people aren't selling these days to preserve their current, lower mortgage rates. Lower inventory leads to a poor business cycle. But the potential exists, which is what set off the meme-stock interest.

New CEO Kaz Nejatian has already laid out a strategy for getting back to growth, even though the real estate market remains tough. He thinks the company, while focusing on spread, has bought houses that aren't top quality; that's why they're going for a lower price. Nejatian wants to focus on volume instead, buying better homes with a lower spread. He also wants to use AI and technology to become more efficient and cut costs.

There's certainly potential to be excited about, and if the plan comes to fruition, Opendoor could be an outstanding stock. But there's plenty of risk.

This disruptor is already profitable

If you're looking for a tech-based industry disruptor, I'd recommend Global-E Online (NASDAQ: GLBE) right now. Global-E provides cross-border e-commerce services for retailers, with a platform that's easy to integrate into a web presence and start using to reach customers all over the world. The company has a niche with high-profile brand names like Disney and LVMH, and it has a strong pipeline of new business. Global-E also has a partnership with Shopify, which offers Global-E to millions of merchant clients through Shopify Management Markets.

Global-E is growing at a fast pace, and it recently became profitable ahead of schedule. In the third quarter, revenue increased 25% year over year, while net income was $13.2 million.

Global-E has a long growth runway as it adds new clients and as e-commerce increases as a percentage of retail sales. The company should also perform even better as economic conditions improve.

Jennifer Saibil has positions in Global-E Online. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Global-E Online, Shopify, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.