Strategy’s MSTR stock posted a roughly $32 billion increase in market capitalization over three months, an 80% rise, but about $6.3 billion of that increase came from selling newly issued shares to investors rather than from the stock’s price appreciation alone.

“Last 3 months for $MSTR: +$32B (+80%),” Strategy wrote on X on September 21. The company’s graphic showed its market capitalization rising from $39.3 billion on June 22 to $70.9 billion on September 21, an increase of $31.6 billion.

MSTR’s Class A shares rose about 54% during the period, from $109.46 to $168.50. Because market capitalization is calculated by multiplying a company’s share price by its shares outstanding, the increase in the number of shares was also a significant factor.

New Class A shares increased from 359 million to 421 million

Weekly SEC filings show that Strategy conducted at-the-market, or ATM, share sales during most weeks from late June through August. In an ATM offering, a company sells newly issued shares directly into the open market. Unlike a traditional underwritten offering, an ATM program lets a company sell shares in small increments at prevailing market prices, and each newly issued share enlarges the total share count, lowering the ownership percentage of existing holders.

The heaviest period was August 17-23, when Strategy sold 18,261,118 shares and received $2.0 billion in net proceeds. During the week ending June 28, the company sold 12,669,017 shares for $1.15 billion.

The filings show approximately 61.5 million new Class A shares issued and about $6.3 billion raised between June 22 and August 30.

A $39.3 billion market capitalization at a share price of $109.46 implies roughly 359 million shares outstanding. At $70.9 billion and a share price of $168.50, the implied share count is approximately 421 million. As a result, nearly one-fifth of the headline $31.6 billion market-capitalization increase represented capital raised from new investors rather than an increase in value for existing shareholders.

Phong Le compares STRC with a passenger jet and bitcoin with a fighter jet

“$STRC is a passenger jet. $BTC is a fighter jet. $MSTR is a rocket ship. Buckle up,” CEO Phong Le wrote on X about an hour before Strategy published the chart.

STRC, Strategy’s variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, rose about 11% over the same three-month period, from $88.79 to $98.78. Perpetual preferred shares have no maturity date and rank ahead of common stock for dividends, making STRC a distinct instrument from the Class A shares behind the market-cap figures.

Bitcoin increased from $64,020 to $86,620 based on daily closes, a gain of about 35%, while MSTR rose 54%.

Around the time of the posts, bitcoin reached an intraday high of $87,395, its highest level since late January. MSTR finished the session at $168.50.

Strategy sold bitcoin three times this year while building a dollar reserve, including 1,638 BTC sold between July 27 and August 2 at an average price of $63,957. That sale occurred near the bottom of the subsequent rally.

The company also bought back STRC, the preferred stock referred to by Le as the “passenger jet.” Between September 14 and 20, Strategy sold no shares through its ATM program and bought 950 BTC for $75.7 million, Cryptopolitan reported. It also repurchased 1,771,238 STRC shares for $174 million — a buyback that removes shares from the outstanding count, the opposite effect of the ATM issuance that expanded the MSTR share base over the summer. Future weekly filings will show whether ATM sales resumed after that quiet stretch.

Strategy’s holdings stood at 846,000 BTC acquired for $63.80 billion, representing an average purchase price of $75,416 per bitcoin. That average cost sits below the $86,620 daily close at the end of the period, and the 846,000-BTC holding is the largest bitcoin treasury of any public company. The company said it held $5.04 billion in its USD Reserve and $1.05 billion in USD Cash. STRC closed Monday at $98.78, below its $100 par value.