Strategy Posts $12.4 Billion Q4 Net Loss—Driven Almost Entirely by Unrealized Bitcoin Losses

Another quarter, another paper loss—Wall Street's crypto experiment takes a $12.4 billion hit.

The Paper Tiger

Dig into the numbers and you'll find the red ink flows from a single source: unrealized Bitcoin losses. That's right—the loss exists mostly on a spreadsheet, a mark-to-market mirage reflecting price swings, not actual coins sold. The strategy held its position through the volatility, betting the dip is temporary. Classic hodl mentality meets corporate accounting.

Volatility as a Scapegoat

Quarterly reports love a good villain, and Bitcoin's legendary price swings play the part perfectly. It gives traditional finance desks a convenient, dramatic reason for the bottom-line bloodbath—never mind the strategic choice to keep the asset on the books. A more cynical observer might call it a handy narrative for explaining away aggressive portfolio bets.

Long Game vs. Short-Term Noise

This is the fundamental clash. Institutional adoption means swallowing quarterly volatility to chase the long-term thesis. The loss is a headline today, but the playbook is unchanged: accumulate, secure, and wait. It's a painful reminder that in crypto, the timeline is measured in market cycles, not fiscal quarters.

So a $12.4 billion 'loss' hits the wires. The suits sweat, the headlines blare, but the Bitcoin hasn't moved an inch. Sometimes the most volatile thing in finance isn't the asset—it's the quarterly report trying to explain it.

Capital raise adds billions as bitcoin total hits 713,502

Strategy raised $25.3 billion throughout 2025. That made it the biggest equity issuer among all public companies in the U.S. for the second straight year.

By February 1, the company’s bitcoin stash had reached 713,502. It added 41,002 bitcoins in January alone. Phong Le, the company’s CEO, said they are focused on growing STRC and driving up Bitcoin Per Share for common shareholders.

“STRC is now a $3.4 billion product,” said Phong. “It has stayed close to its $100 value even with the dip in Bitcoin price. The current dividend is 11.25%. That payout rate is adjusted every month to keep things stable.”

Andrew Kang, who handles the money side, said, “Fair value accounting, tax clarity on unrealized gains, and the return of our credit rating helped us this year. We also launched five preferred IPOs and built a $2.25 billion USD Reserve to protect our dividend.”

Michael Saylor, the chairman, added, “We’re locked into bitcoin for the long run. STRC helps investors get more bitcoin, and MSTR absorbs the hit when bitcoin prices drop. The two parts work together to keep Strategy strong.”

Software revenue edges higher, but support business shrinks

Total revenue in Q4 2025 hit $123.0 million, a 1.9% bump from last year. Subscription services were $51.8 million, up 62.1%. Licenses and subscriptions pulled in $59.6 million, up 26.3%.

But product support dropped to $48.5 million, a 16.9% fall. Other services made $14.9 million, down slightly. Gross profit was $81.3 million, which gave the company a margin of 66.1%, down from 71.7% the year before.

Bitcoin performance was strong on paper. The company got a 22.8% BTC yield for the full year, which was right inside its expected range. It also gained 101,873 bitcoins in total.

That translated into a bitcoin dollar gain of $8.9 billion, using the year-end price of around $87,515. Strategy said its average buy price was $76,052, while the market price on January 30 was about $83,740.

Stock offerings fuel dividends and fund preferred share sales

Strategy pulled in $5.6 billion during Q4 2025, and added another $3.9 billion between January 1 and February 1, 2026. The biggest part came from common stock sales. The ATM program raised $4.4 billion in Q4, followed by $3.4 billion in early 2026. The company still has $8.1 billion left to use under that plan.

On the preferred side, STRK brought in $33.8 million in Q4 and another $3.4 million after. STRF added $99.5 million during Q4. STRD raised $136.6 million, while STRC raised $157.6 million in Q4 and a huge $421.0 million between January and February. The company still has $3.6 billion available for STRC issuance.

In November 2025, Strategy also did a European IPO for STRE stock. That brought in €620.0 million, which came to about $716.8 million using a euro to dollar exchange rate of 1.1561. The company priced the shares at €80.00 each, and sold 7,750,000 of them.

STRC dividends went up every single month since launch. In July and August, the rate was 9.00%, with a $0.80 payout. That jumped to 11.25%, with February’s payment set at $0.94 per share.

The USD Reserve that funds those dividends now holds $2.25 billion, enough for about two and a half years of payouts. Strategy said it will adjust the reserve based on what the market looks like and how much cash it needs.

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