Morning Minute — Tyler Warner (opinions his own)
GM! Quick update on MicroStrategy’s capital moves: the company is sitting on cash and buying preferred stock instead of adding to its Bitcoin hoard.
What happened
- MicroStrategy (Strategy / ticker MSTR) went a fifth straight week without purchasing any Bitcoin — its longest pause in two years. Instead it added $525 million to cash, bringing total cash reserves to $3.75 billion.
- That cash now covers roughly 2.1 years of the company’s annual preferred-dividend and debt interest obligations, which total about $1.76 billion.
- To raise that cash, MicroStrategy sold 5.4 million MSTR shares through its at-the-market program between July 20–26.
- Bitcoin holdings remain frozen at 843,775 BTC; the last buy was 520 BTC on June 22.
Preferred-stock buyback
- MicroStrategy repurchased $25 million of its STRC preferred stock — the first repurchase under the $1 billion authorization the board approved on June 29.
- STRC has traded below its $100 par value since mid-May and hit record lows earlier this month. Critics point out the company is using shareholder-funded cash (raised by selling common stock) to prop up the preferred that’s been dragging on the capital structure.
Share issuance, new metrics and valuation math
- Over the past five weeks, the company has been selling common shares (diluting holders) to build cash and now to buy back preferred.
- MicroStrategy also introduced a new “net Bitcoin per share” metric that strips out $22.2 billion in debt and preferred claims, and it redefined mNAV so the stock now reads 1.02x.
- That 1.02x sits right on the cusp: below that threshold, issuing shares to buy more Bitcoin would actually reduce the company’s Bitcoin-per-share. The move changes the optics around dilution and buy-versus-buyback calculus.
Where the Bitcoin position stands
- By MicroStrategy’s accounting, its Bitcoin stack is roughly $8.5 billion underwater relative to the $63.69 billion it paid for the coins.
What to watch
- Earnings are due this Thursday. Michael Saylor has a history of bold corporate maneuvers — expect commentary or new moves that could clarify the strategy for MSTR holders.
Also in today’s Morning Minute: Corporate treasuries & ETFs, Meme Coin Tracker.
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