Strategy (MSTR) posted the largest operating income in its history on Thursday, booking $20.91 billion for the third quarter of 2026, according to the company's earnings release. Most of that total came from a paper gain on the firm's bitcoin holdings. Strategy is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin and the pioneer of the corporate bitcoin treasury model that other public companies have since adopted.

Net income reached $19.53 billion, or $44.75 per diluted share, up from $2.79 billion a year earlier.

Chief Financial Officer Andrew Kang, who announced his departure in the same release (official announcement on X), framed the result plainly: “Q3 operating income of $21 billion was the largest ever in Strategy's history.”

Strategy marks its bitcoin to market each quarter, so every price move flows into earnings, and bitcoin rallied during the period. The company's 848,517 bitcoin were worth $68.9 billion as of October 23, when the asset traded at $81,200. The holdings carry an average cost of $75,446 per bitcoin, leaving the position in the black on paper.

Kang pointed to the purchases as the engine of the quarter, saying the company “increased our bitcoin holdings by 26% year-to-date in a challenging bitcoin market.”

Total revenue fell 3% from a year ago to $125.4 million, below analyst estimates of $127.2 million. Gross profit came in at $89.6 million, a 71% margin compared with 70% a year earlier. The company ended September with $2.50 billion in cash and equivalents and $3.40 billion in short-term investments. That revenue comes from Strategy's original software business, now small next to the $68.9 billion bitcoin balance sheet that drives the reported results.

Bitcoin Per Share Slips

Bitcoin per share, the metric management uses as its main yardstick, moved in the opposite direction. The BTC yield stands at negative 3.7% for the year, meaning each share holds less bitcoin than it did in January. Measured in dollars, the bitcoin position shows a $2.03 billion loss over the same period. To fund preferred dividends and stock buybacks, the company has sold roughly $431.8 million of bitcoin this year, a figure the release describes as approximate. A negative yield marks a year in which dilution and coin sales outpaced accumulation, the reverse of the per-share compounding the metric is built to track.

Strategy raised $21.23 billion of capital in 2026, including $5.41 billion in net proceeds from its at-the-market program during the third quarter alone. The company then spent a large part of that money on its own preferred stock, repurchasing 20,980,508 shares of STRC for $2.04 billion at an average of $97.39 per share, a discount to the $100 stated amount.

Chief Executive Phong Le said the buyback program was meant to put the security on firmer footing: “Strategy demonstrated its commitment to returning STRC to health.” Management said it intends to keep buying while STRC trades below par, and about $956.7 million remains under the authorization.

The company's dollar reserves now total $5.07 billion, made up of a $4.83 billion USD Reserve and $242.4 million of USD Cash. Strategy says that cushion covers 3.4 years of dividend and interest obligations. The board kept the STRC dividend rate at 12.00% to support trading near the $100 stated amount.

STRC Moves to Daily Dividends

Shareholders approved a move to daily dividends on October 28. STRC begins paying daily on November 1, and STRF, STRK, and STRD follow on January 1, 2027. The structure converts a periodic payout into a continuous one.

Le framed the change as a step toward a different kind of market: “Daily dividends are a natural step toward the tokenized, 24/7/365 financial system. Digital Credit is being built for that world, and Strategy intends to lead it.”

Strategy also expects its preferred distributions to count as a non-taxable return of capital for ten years or more, because it does not expect positive accumulated earnings and profits. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisers.

STRC is now nearing its $100 stated amount: earlier on Thursday, the stock reached $99.99, and a return to par would reopen funding for bitcoin purchases. Shareholders approved the daily-dividend structure to improve liquidity and reduce price volatility, though Strategy has not yet confirmed a restart of STRC share issuance. Whether STRC settles at or above par, and whether management restarts issuance, will show whether the funding channel behind the company's bitcoin buying reopens. With results marked to market, fourth-quarter figures will again move with bitcoin's price, and Kang's announced departure leaves the CFO role in transition heading into the daily-dividend rollout.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Micah Zimmerman.