Bitcoin accumulator Strategy Inc. returned to profitability in the third quarter, with results bolstered by an unrealized gain tied to the rising value of the company’s roughly $69 billion cryptocurrency stockpile.
Net income was $2.8 billion, or $8.42 a share, compared with a loss of $340 million, or $1.72 in the year-ago period, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm said in a statement Thursday. The company, formerly known as MicroStrategy, adopted accounting standards in January that required it to include the fair value of its Bitcoin holdings in its earnings. The change triggered multibillion dollar swings between profits and losses in the the previous two quarters.
The company said in the statement that it is “actively laying the groundwork for credit securities in international jurisdictions.” Strategy’s shares fluctuated in after-hours trading.
Even though Bitcoin reached a record high during the third quarter and dozens of public firms copied the treasury company model cofounder and chairman Michael Saylor pioneered five years ago, investors have begun to question the tactic. Shares of Strategy have tumbled around 45% since the stock closed at a record high last November, erasing much of the premium the shares long enjoyed over its Bitcoin holdings for the past few years.
The company was a modest enterprise software firm until 2020, when Saylor jolted Wall Street by shifting money into Bitcoin. The stock ceased trading on earnings potential and began trading on a multiple of its underlying Bitcoin holdings—known as mNAV. After trading at more then two times that multiple at times, the mNAV has shrunk to around 1.3.
At the center of the concern is the firm’s financing methods. Strategy’s preferred stock—billed as its main vehicle for future Bitcoin purchases—has drawn tepid demand. Recent sales have fallen well short of Saylor’s ambition for blockbuster capital raising, prompting a slowdown in the pace of Bitcoin purchases in recent weeks.
Following the release of second-quarter results in July, Strategy pledged it won’t issue new common shares at less than 2.5 times its net asset value, except to cover debt interest or preferred dividends. At the same time, Saylor said he would keep tapping the market “opportunistically” when the premium is high, turning equity sales into fresh Bitcoin buys. Despite seeking to reassure shareholders, the firm subsequently sold more common shares.
Revenue from the company’s legacy enterprise software business rose 11% to $128.7 million, above the $116.8 million average forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.