Michael Saylor’s Strategy registered an unrealized gain of $14.05 billion in the second quarter due to a rebound in Bitcoin’s price and a recent accounting change.
The unrealized gain was partially offset by a related deferred tax expense of $4.04 billion, the company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. This is the first week the company formerly known as MicroStrategy Inc. has not purchased additional tokens since April. Strategy owns about $65 billion in Bitcoin, making it the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
Saylor has transformed the the once floundering enterprise software maker into the leading leveraged Bitcoin proxy through the sale of common and preferred shares and debt offerings. On Monday, it also announced the addition of an at-the-market sales program for the third round of preferred stock it began selling earlier this year to help fund the Bitcoin purchases. Strategy acquired around $6.8 billion of Bitcoin in the three months ended June 30.
Although Strategy’s quarterly results will probably put it in a select group with the likes of Amazon Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. whose operating profits are expected to exceed $10 billion last quarter, the company is anticipated to only post about $112.8 million in revenue from its software business, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The company is expected to release second-quarter results in August.
Strategy’s shares have soared over 3,300% since Saylor began buying Bitcoin in the middle of 2020 as a hedge against inflation. Bitcoin is up around 1,000% during the same period, while the S&P 500 has increased around 115%. The stock rose 40% in the second quarter as the S&P climbed 11%.
In the first quarter, Strategy adopted an accounting change that requires valuing the firm’s Bitcoin at market prices. Strategy and fellow corporate buyers of Bitcoin are now recognizing the unrealized changes that often produce big swings in earnings. Strategy posted a record $4.2 billion loss the first quarter, which saw Bitcoin slump 12%.
Prior to the accounting change, Strategy had been classifying its Bitcoin holdings similar to intangible assets like patents or trademarks. That designation forced Strategy to permanently mark down the value of its holdings when the price of Bitcoin dropped below the previous carrying value. Gains could only be recognized when tokens were sold.
(Adds information on weekly purchases and at-the-market sales, beginning in the second paragraph.)
