Day 8: $MSTR
Strategy is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, and it issues more than one security against that same pile. Today we put three of them side by side: the common stock, the bitcoin itself, and the 8% preferred.
| Close / price | All-time high | Below ATH | Summer low | Off low | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $MSTR | 168.50 | 543.00 (2024-11-21) | 69% | 81.81 (2026-06-26) | +106% |
| $BTC | 86,945 | 126,272 (2025-10-06) | 31% | 57,735 (52-week low) | +51% |
| $STRK | 76.28 | 129.48 (2025-07-11) | 41% | 49.80 (2026-06-26) | +53% |
MSTR and STRK prices are the 21 September 2026 regular-session closes. Bitcoin trades around the clock; its figure is the 4:39 PM ET print.
What the 8-K said today
Strategy filed an 8-K on 2026-09-21 (accession 0001193125-26-396093) covering the prior week:
- 950 BTC acquired for about $75.7M, an average of $79,670 per bitcoin.
- Total holdings 846,000 BTC, aggregate cost $63.80B, average $75,416 per bitcoin.
- No at-the-market common stock sales reported for the week.
- A buyback of 1,771,238 STRC shares for $174.0M.
- A USD Reserve of $5.04B and USD cash of $1.05B.
At 86,945, bitcoin sits about 15% above that $75,416 average cost. By our arithmetic, 846,000 BTC at that price is worth roughly $73.6B against the $63.80B paid.
Why the rides differ
The common stock is the leveraged claim. It carries whatever is left after the preferreds and the debt, so it moves more than bitcoin in both directions: 69% below its high while bitcoin is 31% below its own, and up 106% off the summer low against bitcoin's 51%.
The preferred is the fixed-income claim. STRK pays an 8% dividend on its stated amount and ranks ahead of the common. Its price still moves with confidence in Strategy's balance sheet, which is why it fell 41% from its July 2025 high, but it does not share in bitcoin's upside the way the common does. From the summer lows it rose about as much as bitcoin itself, 53%, with a dividend attached.
Same balance sheet, very different ride.
What is not established here
- The 8-K reports what Strategy bought; it does not explain today's +9.47% move in the common. A same-day filing next to a same-day price move is not causation.
- Market cap of about $64.7B is TradingView's figure and depends on the share count it uses; Strategy's share count changes with every at-the-market sale. We do not compute a premium or discount to the bitcoin holdings here for that reason.
- The $73.6B holdings value is our arithmetic, bitcoin's 4:39 PM ET price times 846,000. It is not a company disclosure and it moves every minute.
- Debt, the other preferred series and dividend obligations are not in this piece.
What would change the read
- The next Monday 8-K. Whether Strategy keeps buying, and whether it funds purchases with common stock sales again, changes the per-share bitcoin exposure.
- Bitcoin against the $75,416 average cost. The gap is about 15% today. It was the whole story of the spring.
- The preferred's price. STRK trading back toward its stated value would say the market is more comfortable with the balance sheet; a slide would say the opposite.
Educational commentary only. This is not investment advice, not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and contains no price targets, entries, or position sizing of our own. Figures are as of the dates stated and decay. Verify everything against primary sources before acting on it.