Strategy has temporarily suspended its bitcoin buying program. In a recent statement, Michael Saylor revealed that the company would refrain from adding to its bitcoin holdings this week, ahead of the release of its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Saylor took to social media to announce, 'No buys this week. Back to work next week.' This brief pause marks only the second instance this year for Strategy, a company that has established itself as the largest publicly traded bitcoin treasury and a closely watched proxy for institutional bitcoin exposure.
The previous pause occurred during the week of March 23-29. Currently, Strategy holds 138,332 BTC less than previously reported, with approximately 3.9% of bitcoin's total supply. Its most recent acquisition added 3,273 BTC at an average price of $77,906 per bitcoin. As of Monday morning, bitcoin was trading near $80,100, reflecting a 20% increase over the past month.
The temporary pause may seem insignificant but comes at a time when Strategy is set to release its first-quarter results, with some analysts predicting a loss of $18.98 per share. According to data from six analysts compiled by Yahoo Finance, Strategy is expected to report first-quarter revenue of around $125 million, representing a 12.6% increase from $111.1 million in the same quarter last year. This growth suggests that the company's underlying software business continues to expand, even as its identity becomes increasingly tied to bitcoin.
However, earnings are expected to be lower. The average estimate for the March quarter is a loss of $27.33 per share, according to Yahoo Finance, while Zacks Research data points to an expected loss of $3.41 per share.
Strategy is now viewed as a bitcoin financing vehicle that also provides business intelligence software, rather than a software company with a bitcoin position. As a result, Tuesday's report may be evaluated based on the resilience of Saylor's capital-raising strategy and less on the company's operational performance. One product drawing attention is STRC, a perpetual preferred share designed to trade near $100 while paying a variable monthly dividend, currently around 11.5% annualized. The product is pitched as a yield backed by Strategy's balance sheet and bitcoin-heavy capital strategy, but concerns have been raised that it may start to resemble credit risk rather than stable income if market sentiment shifts.
Higher bitcoin prices support Strategy's valuation, enhancing its ability to raise capital and fund further bitcoin purchases. However, when sentiment weakens, the same structure becomes more fragile. Saylor has announced that buying will resume next week, but Tuesday's earnings will reveal how much confidence investors still have in the machinery that makes this possible. Notably, the company raised $82 million through the sale of common stock, according to Monday's 8-K filing, although no corresponding bitcoin purchases were disclosed.