Strategy paused Bitcoin buying last week while plowing roughly $205 million into its STRC preferred stock, according to an Oct. 26 SEC filing and executive comments.
Key takeaways
- Strategy repurchased $204.9 million of STRC preferred stock in the week ended Oct. 25, funded from USD Cash. It made no Bitcoin purchases or sales that week, leaving its BTC holdings unchanged at 848,517.
- Executive chairman Michael Saylor posted the rounded $205 million figure on X and said Strategy held $5.1 billion in USD assets as of Oct. 25.
- The filing reported no repurchases of MSTR common shares or any other listed preferred shares.
Details and context
- Using the company’s reported numbers, the $204.9 million buyback divided by 2,068,459 STRC shares implies an average purchase price of about $99.06 per share. Strategy’s STRC dashboard showed a $99.36 close on Oct. 23—64 cents below the preferred stock’s $100 stated amount. The dashboard lists a variable annual dividend rate of 12% (effective yield 12.08%).
- Management has previously tied STRC repurchases to market pricing. CEO Phong Le said in Q2 that repurchases would target shares trading below $100 and be scaled to market prices and liquidity, with discounted buybacks used to reduce future preferred dividend obligations.
- At the $100 stated amount, the latest repurchases represent roughly $206.85 million of preferred stock—about $1.95 million more than the reported cash spent. Assuming the 12% annual rate holds, the repurchased volume would correspond to roughly $24.8 million in annualized preferred dividends (a simplification that doesn’t reflect future guidance).
Cash positioning and recent activity
- Strategy splits dollar holdings into USD Reserve (for preferred dividends and interest) and USD Cash (for Bitcoin purchases, reserve contributions, and other capital uses). The company combined these for a $5.1 billion headline balance: $4.83 billion in the reserve and $242.4 million in USD Cash after the STRC repurchases.
- USD Cash has fallen sharply in recent weeks: it was $447.3 million a week earlier and $640.5 million on Oct. 12. The latest reduction largely reflects STRC buybacks—USD Cash declined about 45.8% from $447.3 million to $242.4 million following the purchases.
- In earlier filings, Strategy used $193.1 million of USD Cash on STRC repurchases (plus $100,000 for Bitcoin buys) and paid $45.5 million in preferred dividends from the reserve in the prior reporting period.
Bitcoin buys vs. preferred repurchases
- Over the three most recent reporting periods, Strategy spent roughly $590.4 million repurchasing STRC versus about $43.6 million acquiring 517 BTC—putting preferred-stock repurchase spending at about 13.5 times Bitcoin acquisition spending.
- Notable recent BTC purchases: 267 BTC for $22.1 million in the Oct. 12–18 week and 250 BTC for $21.5 million (avg. $86,194 per BTC, including fees) in an earlier period. The 267-BTC purchase was largely funded by net proceeds from selling 140,872 MSTR shares ($22 million).
Capital-authority updates
- On Oct. 19, Strategy increased its digital credit securities repurchase authorization from $2 billion to $3 billion (including completed purchases). Its separate MSTR common-stock buyback program remains at its $1 billion capacity.
What it means
Strategy’s recent activity shows a clear near-term preference for reducing preferred-share liabilities rather than adding to its Bitcoin stash. Management’s STRC buyback program is executing on the stated plan to buy at sub-$100 prices and to shrink future dividend burdens, while USD Cash levels have fallen as those repurchases ramped up.
Key takeaways
- Strategy repurchased $204.9 million of STRC preferred stock in the week ended Oct. 25, funded from USD Cash. It made no Bitcoin purchases or sales that week, leaving its BTC holdings unchanged at 848,517.
- Executive chairman Michael Saylor posted the rounded $205 million figure on X and said Strategy held $5.1 billion in USD assets as of Oct. 25.
- The filing reported no repurchases of MSTR common shares or any other listed preferred shares.
Details and context
- Using the company’s reported numbers, the $204.9 million buyback divided by 2,068,459 STRC shares implies an average purchase price of about $99.06 per share. Strategy’s STRC dashboard showed a $99.36 close on Oct. 23—64 cents below the preferred stock’s $100 stated amount. The dashboard lists a variable annual dividend rate of 12% (effective yield 12.08%).
- Management has previously tied STRC repurchases to market pricing. CEO Phong Le said in Q2 that repurchases would target shares trading below $100 and be scaled to market prices and liquidity, with discounted buybacks used to reduce future preferred dividend obligations.
- At the $100 stated amount, the latest repurchases represent roughly $206.85 million of preferred stock—about $1.95 million more than the reported cash spent. Assuming the 12% annual rate holds, the repurchased volume would correspond to roughly $24.8 million in annualized preferred dividends (a simplification that doesn’t reflect future guidance).
Cash positioning and recent activity
- Strategy splits dollar holdings into USD Reserve (for preferred dividends and interest) and USD Cash (for Bitcoin purchases, reserve contributions, and other capital uses). The company combined these for a $5.1 billion headline balance: $4.83 billion in the reserve and $242.4 million in USD Cash after the STRC repurchases.
- USD Cash has fallen sharply in recent weeks: it was $447.3 million a week earlier and $640.5 million on Oct. 12. The latest reduction largely reflects STRC buybacks—USD Cash declined about 45.8% from $447.3 million to $242.4 million following the purchases.
- In earlier filings, Strategy used $193.1 million of USD Cash on STRC repurchases (plus $100,000 for Bitcoin buys) and paid $45.5 million in preferred dividends from the reserve in the prior reporting period.
Bitcoin buys vs. preferred repurchases
- Over the three most recent reporting periods, Strategy spent roughly $590.4 million repurchasing STRC versus about $43.6 million acquiring 517 BTC—putting preferred-stock repurchase spending at about 13.5 times Bitcoin acquisition spending.
- Notable recent BTC purchases: 267 BTC for $22.1 million in the Oct. 12–18 week and 250 BTC for $21.5 million (avg. $86,194 per BTC, including fees) in an earlier period. The 267-BTC purchase was largely funded by net proceeds from selling 140,872 MSTR shares ($22 million).
Capital-authority updates
- On Oct. 19, Strategy increased its digital credit securities repurchase authorization from $2 billion to $3 billion (including completed purchases). Its separate MSTR common-stock buyback program remains at its $1 billion capacity.
What it means
Strategy’s recent activity shows a clear near-term preference for reducing preferred-share liabilities rather than adding to its Bitcoin stash. Management’s STRC buyback program is executing on the stated plan to buy at sub-$100 prices and to shrink future dividend burdens, while USD Cash levels have fallen as those repurchases ramped up.