Strategy Acquires STRC for $2 Billion: Market Reaction and Assessments

Strategy (MSTR) fell by nearly 10% on Friday following the release of its third-quarter 2026 results, yet Wall Street maintains a positive outlook on the leading bitcoin treasury company. Analysts from StoneX and TD Cowen reaffirmed their "buy" ratings with target prices of $435 and $260, respectively.

Balance Sheet and Preferred Shares

According to estimates by StoneX and TD Cowen, Strategy ended the quarter with $5.07 billion in dollar assets, including a cash reserve of $4.83 billion, sufficient for approximately 3.2–3.4 years of dividend payments on preferred shares and interest on debt. The company spent about $2 billion on repurchasing STRC preferred shares, bringing them back to a par value of around $100, demonstrating the resilience of the digital lending model. Meanwhile, the bitcoin per share metric decreased by 3.7% year-to-date as the company prioritized reserve accumulation and support for preferred securities over bitcoin accumulation.

Dividend Changes

This week, shareholders of preferred shares STRC, STRF, STRK, and STRD approved a change allowing for daily dividend accruals: from November 1 for STRC and from January 1 for the other securities. StoneX analyst Mark Palmer wrote that management explained this move as an effort to reduce volatility, improve liquidity, expand demand, and align the instruments with the 24/7 tokenized market.

Analyst Assessment

"We consider these steps significant primarily because broader distribution and better liquidity could ultimately enhance Strategy's ability to effectively issue digital credit," wrote TD Cowen analysts. "This, rather than the price of STRC itself, remains the connection with MSTR common stockholders." On Friday morning, MSTR traded 8.7% lower at $129.90; the stock has lost about 27% year-to-date.