October 31, 2026 – A $20.91 billion bitcoin gain delivered the largest operating profit in Strategy’s history. Yet the October sell-off has nearly erased the cushion between Bitcoin’s price and what Strategy paid for its coins.
In Summary
Strategy earned $19.53 billion in the third quarter, up from $2.79 billion, on a $20.91 billion bitcoin gain.
It holds 848,517 bitcoin at an average cost of $75,446, about 2% below the price early on October 31.
Shareholders approved daily dividends, starting with STRC on November 1 and the other preferreds on January 1.
CFO Andrew Kang will step down on November 5, and Reza Virasteh takes the role on January 1.
Strategy Q3 results showed net income of $19.53 billion, up from $2.79 billion a year earlier, the company reported. A $20.91 billion gain on its bitcoin drove almost all of it. Diluted earnings came to $44.75 per share.
Without that gain, the Strategy Q3 picture looks very different. The core software business was small by comparison. Revenue fell 3% to $125.4 million, with a 71% gross margin. Preferred dividends also rose to $419.6 million, from $139.9 million a year earlier.
Strategy Q3 gain meets an October slide
The timing of the gain matters. Bitcoin rose about 43% in the third quarter, and Strategy marks its coins at fair value. MSTR stock did even better, gaining 76% in the quarter. But prices have since dropped.
Strategy held 848,517 bitcoin as of October 25. It paid about $75,446 per coin on average, for a total cost of $64.02 billion. The company valued the stack at $68.90 billion, using a price of $81,200 from October 23.
Since then, bitcoin has fallen to about $77,050 on Kraken early on October 31. That leaves the price only about 2% above Strategy’s average cost. During the October 30 low of $76,156, the cushion shrank to under 1%.
Buying more, and selling a little
The company still added coins this year. It bought $14.33 billion of bitcoin through October 25, lifting holdings 26%. Over the same period, it raised $21.23 billion of capital.
However, its BTC Yield, a measure of bitcoin per share, stands at minus 3.7% for the year. Strategy also sold about $431.8 million of bitcoin to help fund dividends and buy back STRC preferred shares. In total, it repurchased about $2.04 billion of STRC at an average of $97.39 a share.
To cover future payouts, Strategy holds $5.07 billion of dollar assets. That pot includes a $4.83 billion USD Reserve and $242.4 million of cash. The company says this covers about 3.4 years of dividends and interest. It has kept the STRC dividend rate at 12% to hold the shares near their $100 stated amount. Across all its preferred stock, Strategy has now paid $1.48 billion in dividends.
Daily dividends and a CFO change
Shareholders backed the shift to daily dividends at an October 28 meeting. The plan drew 381.4 million votes for and 2.2 million against, a separate filing shows. As a result, STRC dividends will accrue every calendar day from November 1. STRF, STRK and STRD follow on January 1, 2027.
The finance team is also changing. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Kang will resign on November 5 for personal reasons, Strategy disclosed. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Phong Le will cover the role until year-end. Then Reza Virasteh, now head of operations, becomes CFO on January 1.
Investors were less upbeat on Friday. MSTR shares fell 7.8% to $130.51 on October 30, Nasdaq data show. The stock now trades well below its 52-week high of $276.32. After the Strategy Q3 report, the bitcoin price will again set the tone for fourth-quarter results.
