Strategy reported third-quarter 2026 results with net income of $19.53 billion. A year earlier it was $2.79 billion. The report was released on October 29.
Strategy is the former MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor's company. It is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin: it buys coins with money raised in the market.
Almost all of the profit is paper. It is a revaluation of crypto reserves, not income from the business. What matters to a trader is another detail of the report: the company not only bought coins, but also sold them.
Where did $19.53 billion come from?
The profit came from revaluation. The company values its reserves at fair value. Changes in Bitcoin's market price go straight into reported profit, not only at the moment of sale. The revaluation of digital assets contributed $20.91 billion.
- $20.91 billion - operating income versus $3.89 billion a year earlier
- $44.75 - diluted earnings per share versus $8.42
- $125.4 million - the software business the company started with: 3% less than last year's $128.7 million
- $419.6 million - dividends on preferred stock, after which $19.12 billion remained for shareholders
How much Bitcoin is on the balance sheet?
The holdings keep growing. The company finances its purchases with money raised from investors.
- 848,517 BTC - on the balance sheet as of October 25, up 26% since the start of the year
- about $75,446 - average purchase price, total cost $64.02 billion
- ~$68.90 billion - value of the holdings at $81,200 on October 23
- $14.33 billion - spent on BTC in 2026
- $21.23 billion - raised in the market, including $5.41 billion from share sales in the third quarter
Why was the company selling BTC?
The sales went toward payouts. Over the year, Strategy sold roughly $431.8 million worth of BTC.
- Dividends. Some of the coins went toward payments on preferred stock.
- STRC buyback. The company repurchased 20.98 million shares for $2.04 billion, at an average of $97.39.
- A margin of safety. Of the authorized $3 billion buyback, $956.7 million remains, and dollar assets stand at $5.07 billion. That is enough for roughly 3.4 years of dividends and interest.
What does this mean for a trader?
The weak spot in the report is BTC per share. The metric went negative by 3.7% since the start of the year, or by 24,947 BTC and $2.03 billion. Reserves are growing, but more slowly than new shares are issued.
The key point: Strategy's profit depends on the price of Bitcoin, not on its own business. The software segment brought in $125.4 million, while the revaluation of reserves brought in $20.91 billion.
What's next. It's convenient to keep upcoming reports and macro statistics in the economic calendar. How prop trading works is explained in the academy.
Been looking at 848 thousand BTC and at your own deposit?
The corporation keeps adding billions in coins. And you're scrolling through the report counting how much you have sitting on an exchange yourself. The gap here isn't in the idea or the timing. Strategy raises capital in the market, while your maximum size equals your own account. In prop trading, the trading capital is provided by the company: you pay for selection, pass the challenge, and trade its account within its risk limits, receiving a share of the result. It makes more sense to understand the mechanics now, while the market is calm.