Strategy Bitcoin Gain Hits $20.9bn as CFO Kang Exits

Strategy, the company formerly called MicroStrategy, reported operating income of $20.91bn for the third quarter of 2026, almost all of it a Strategy bitcoin gain of $20.91bn from revaluing the coins it holds, according to its results filed with the SEC on 29 October. Diluted earnings per share were $44.75, against $8.42 a year earlier.

The same filing disclosed a change at the top of the finance team. Chief financial officer Andrew Kang told the company on 26 October that he will resign with effect from 5 November “due to personal reasons and not the result of any disagreement”, the 8-K says. Reza Virasteh, its head of operations, becomes CFO on 1 January 2027.

In brief

Strategy’s bitcoin gain of $20.91bn, an unrealised fair-value remeasurement, produced Q3 operating income of $20.91bn and net income of $19.53bn.
The company held 848,517 BTC on 25 October, bought at an average of $75,446 each; it sold 5,552 BTC in the quarter to fund dividends and buybacks.
CFO Andrew Kang leaves on 5 November; CEO Phong Le covers the role until Reza Virasteh takes over on 1 January.

The Strategy bitcoin gain is a fair-value remeasurement

The Strategy bitcoin gain is not cash. Since adopting a US accounting standard known as ASU 2023-08, Strategy must “measure its bitcoin at fair value” at the end of each reporting period and “recognize gains and losses from changes in the fair value in net income”, the filing explains. “As a result, the Company may incur unrealized gain or loss on digital assets based on changes in the market price of bitcoin during a period.”

In plain terms, Strategy values its bitcoin at the market price on the last day of the quarter and books the difference from the previous quarter-end as profit or loss. Because the price was higher on 30 September than on 30 June, the stack was worth more and the rise counts as income. The same rule produced losses of $14.46bn in the first quarter and $8.32bn in the second. Over nine months, the company shows a $1.86bn net loss on digital assets, a $1.89bn operating loss and a $1.23bn net loss.

Strip out the Strategy bitcoin gain and the software business that gave MicroStrategy its name was roughly break-even. Revenue fell 3% to $125.4m and gross profit was $89.6m, but operating costs left operations about $2.6m short before the revaluation, on TSN’s arithmetic from the income statement. After a $1.41bn tax charge, net income was $19.53bn. Preferred dividends of $419.6m brought the amount attributable to common shareholders to $19.12bn.

Strategy now holds 848,517 BTC and has begun selling some

Strategy held about 848,517 bitcoin on 25 October, bought for $64.02bn in total, or about $75,446 each, the release says. At its reference price of about $81,200 on 23 October, they were worth $68.90bn. The total matches the figure Strategy gave when it bought 267 BTC and raised its preferred buyback cap earlier this month.

The quarter also shows bitcoin moving the other way. Strategy bought 7,218 BTC for $588.1m, paid for with sales of its class A shares, but sold 5,552 BTC. The proceeds, the filing says, funded $239.9m of preferred dividends and $108.6m of buybacks of its STRC preferred stock. Year to date, it has sold about $431.8m of bitcoin for those purposes.

Strategy says it has repurchased about 20.98m STRC shares this year for roughly $2.04bn, at an average of $97.39, and built up $5.07bn of US dollar assets, which it says covers about 3.4 years of preferred dividends and interest. Shareholders approved daily dividends on its four preferred stocks on 28 October. Its own BTC Yield measure, which tracks bitcoin per share, stands at minus 3.7% for the year.

Andrew Kang’s exit splits the CFO job in two

From 6 November to 31 December, chief executive Phong Le will be principal financial officer. From 1 January, Virasteh, 50, who joined in 2008 and has run operations since January 2024, becomes executive vice president and CFO, sharing the principal financial officer role with Le. Le will handle the finances of the bitcoin strategy, including capital markets, treasury and investor relations; Virasteh will handle the software business’s finances and budget. Global controller Shelley Khanna becomes chief accounting officer on 6 November.

Kang stays on as a non-executive adviser until 31 December and will receive a lump sum of $883,400. Virasteh’s base salary rises to $500,000 with a $400,000 bonus target, plus restricted stock units and a share option, each with a target value of $1m. In the results release, Kang said: “Q3 operating income of $21 billion was the largest ever in Strategy’s history.”

A record profit built on one closing price

Kang’s line is accurate under the accounting rules, but it describes a valuation, not earnings in the ordinary sense. Strategy’s quarterly result now depends mainly on where bitcoin closes on the last day of the quarter. A move in one direction produced the third-quarter Strategy bitcoin gain and a $20.91bn operating profit. Moves the other way produced losses of $14.46bn and $8.32bn earlier this year. Read together, the nine months show a loss, which is a fairer description of the year so far than the third quarter alone.

The cash picture is different and smaller. Strategy raised money by selling shares and preferred stock, bought bitcoin with it and this year has also sold some bitcoin to meet dividend and buyback bills. The negative BTC Yield means that, on its own preferred measure, each share represents slightly less bitcoin than in January. That matters more for the model Michael Saylor built, described in TSN’s history of the company, than any single quarter’s revaluation. MSCI’s new screens for non-operating companies, which start on 30 November, add another test for listed bitcoin holders, although MSCI has named no companies.

Splitting the CFO role recognises that Strategy is now two businesses with very different finance jobs: a software company with $125m of quarterly revenue, and a bitcoin holding company that runs a large preferred-stock programme. Kang’s last day as CFO is 5 November; Virasteh takes the title on 1 January 2027.