Opendoor

Opendoor sold 13,593 homes in 2024 generating $5.2 billion revenue, down 26% year-over-year as higher mortgage rates froze the U.S. housing market. The company posted $113 million net loss in Q4 2024 despite aggressive cost-cutting that eliminated $85 million in annualized expenses. Like a bear entering hibernation, Opendoor slowed its metabolism, reducing inventory from peak levels while maintaining core organ systems. The company achieved its first quarterly adjusted EBITDA profitability in Q2 2025 even as "housing market conditions continued to deteriorate."

The iBuying model requires abundant prey: homeowners willing to sell quickly at slight discounts. When interest rates spiked above 7%, potential sellers chose dormancy over transaction costs, creating a resource drought. Opendoor responded with metabolic slowdown, shrinking from processing thousands of monthly transactions to maintaining minimal viable operations. The company's technology infrastructure represents stored body fat: automated valuation models and logistics systems that consume capital during starvation but enable rapid reactivation when spring returns.

This differs from true dormancy in one critical dimension. Opendoor burns cash while hibernating, consuming $2.2 billion in inventory capital that generates no return. A bear survives winter on accumulated reserves; Opendoor requires continuous capital infusion from public markets. The company's survival depends on whether housing market thaw arrives before financial reserves deplete, a race between environmental conditions and metabolic endurance that favors organisms evolved for prolonged dormancy over technology platforms optimized for growth.