Strategy touts 14% YTD Bitcoin yield in Q1 earnings print, misses estimates

Update (May 1, 11:35 pm UTC): This article has been updated to add Strategy’s revenue, net loss and analyst estimates.

Michael Saylor's Bitcoin-buying firm Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has reported earning a year-to-date yield of 13.7% on its Bitcoin holdings as it missed Wall Street's first-quarter estimates.

The company said in its May 1 earnings statement that its year-to-date Bitcoin (BTC) yield equates to a gain of more than 61,000 BTC, worth approximately $5.8 billion. Bitcoin yield and gain are unofficial accounting metrics Strategy uses to benchmark the success of its BTC buys. 

Strategy’s chief financial officer, Andrew Kang, said it would increase its Bitcoin yield target for this year to 25% and its Bitcoin gain target to $15 billion.

It comes as Strategy missed top and bottom line analyst estimates. The firm reported revenues of $111.1 million, down 3.6% from the year-ago quarter and missing analyst estimates by around 5%.

Strategy also posted a net loss of $4.2 billion, around $16.49 per diluted share, against analyst estimates of an 11 cents per share loss and a rise from a $53.1 million in the first quarter of 2024.

The company’s Q1 operating expenses jumped by nearly 2,000% year-on-year to $6 billion, largely due to a $5.9 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings.

The company announced it would offer an additional $21 billion worth of stock to finance future Bitcoin buys.

Related: Bitcoin, showing 'signs of resilience', beats stocks, gold as equities fold — Binance

Shares in Strategy (MSTR) closed May 1 trading up 0.39% to $381.60, falling slightly after hours to $378.50, according to Google Finance.

MSTR is up over 31.5% so far this year, but is still trading below its November high of more than $470 per share.

Since starting its Bitcoin buying spree in 2020, Strategy has accumulated a total of more than 550,000 BTC, costing the company nearly $38 billion, according to its earnings report.

The purchases equate to an average price of approximately $68,500 per Bitcoin. As of May 1, Strategy’s treasury is worth more than $53 billion.

Industry executives say institutional Bitcoin buying — including from corporate buyers such as Strategy — could eventually price retail investors out of the market.

Strategy has the largest Bitcoin holdings of a public company. In total, public firms hold upward of $73 billion worth of Bitcoin in aggregate, while Bitcoin funds and other institutional funds hold another roughly $128 billion, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.NET.

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