Opendoor Technologies Inc (OPEN) stock soared 6.55% on Wednesday, continuing its wild ride as a newly minted meme stock. This latest jump comes on the heels of significant volatility, highlighting the intense speculative interest surrounding the online real estate platform.

The surge is part of a larger meme stock rally that has seen Opendoor's shares skyrocket over 400% this month alone. The stock's dramatic rise has been driven by a potent combination of social media hype, options activity, and endorsement from a prominent hedge fund manager. Eric Jackson, founder of EMJ Capital, publicly announced his fund had taken a position in Opendoor last week, predicting the stock could reach $82 in the longer term.

The rally was initially sparked by retail investors on social media platforms like Reddit, with some comparing Opendoor's potential to that of Carvana, another former meme stock that saw a significant turnaround. The high short interest in Opendoor shares, reported at 21.4% of float, has also set the stage for potential short squeezes, further fueling the stock's dramatic movements.

However, the stock's journey has been far from smooth. Opendoor has experienced extreme volatility, with large gains often followed by significant pullbacks. Just a day before this latest surge, the stock had tumbled over 20% as some investors took profits. This pattern of rapid rises and falls underscores the speculative nature of the current trading activity.

Analysts caution that while the stock movement has been dramatic, the fundamental outlook for Opendoor remains challenging. The company is still unprofitable and faces headwinds in the real estate market. The meme stock phenomenon has shown that market psychology and crowd behavior can sometimes overshadow traditional valuation metrics, but investors should be aware that such volatility can lead to rapid gains as well as sudden reversals.