Remember Eric Jackson? The hedge fund guy who basically turned Opendoor into the internet’s favorite meme stock this summer? Well, he’s back at it again, and this time he’s got his sights set on a mortgage company that most people have never heard of.
Meet Better Home & Finance (ticker: BETR), which just had the kind of week that makes day traders weep tears of joy. The stock absolutely exploded 120% in just two days after Jackson dropped his latest hot take on Twitter. And get this – the year-to-date gains are sitting at a casual 680%. No big deal, right?
So what’s the deal with Better? Jackson’s calling it “the Shopify of mortgages,” which honestly sounds like something a startup founder would say after too many energy drinks. But here’s the thing – he might actually be onto something.
The company operates in that massive $15 trillion mortgage industry (yes, trillion with a T), and Jackson thinks they’re using AI to basically rebuild the whole thing from scratch. His price target? A mind-melting $82 per share, which would mean another 900% gain from current levels. Oh, and he also casually mentioned he thinks it could be a “350-bagger” in two years. You know, just your typical Tuesday prediction.
Here’s where it gets interesting though. Jackson isn’t just throwing darts at a board – he’s drawing some pretty specific parallels. He compares Better to both Opendoor (his previous golden child) and Carvana, another former meme stock darling that he pumped back in 2023. The guy clearly has a type.
The timing couldn’t be better either (pun intended). With the Fed cutting interest rates, the housing market is starting to show signs of life again. Lower mortgage rates mean more people buying houses, which means more business for companies like Better. It’s basic economics, but sometimes the basic stuff works.
What’s really wild is that Jackson sees Better and Opendoor not as competitors, but as potential partners. Picture this: you’re selling your house through Opendoor, and boom – one-click mortgage approval powered by Better’s AI. It’s like the Amazon of real estate, but with more paperwork and probably more stress.
Now, before you start throwing your life savings at this thing, remember that meme stocks can be about as predictable as a cat on catnip. While Better is having its moment, it hasn’t quite reached the Reddit-fueled hysteria levels that Opendoor hit. Yet.
The real question is whether Jackson can pull off the same magic twice. His track record with Opendoor suggests he knows how to spot trends before they explode, but the mortgage industry is a different beast entirely. Still, when a guy who turned one obscure stock into a retail trading phenomenon starts talking about another one, it’s probably worth paying attention.
Just maybe don’t bet the farm on it. Or the mortgage. You get the idea.