Analyst Mike Colonnese points to $20.9 billion in unrealized Bitcoin gains and $5 billion in cash reserves as pillars of the bull case
H.C. Wainwright analyst Mike Colonnese has maintained his Buy rating on Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) and kept his price target at $250, citing the company’s financial position after its Q3 2026 earnings release. The call lands against a backdrop of a deliberate slowdown in Bitcoin purchases, a $2 billion preferred stock buyback program, and an unrealized digital asset gain that most public companies can only dream about.
Strategy reported $20.9 billion in unrealized fair-value gains on its digital asset holdings for Q3 2026, a figure that anchors the bull case even as the pace of new Bitcoin purchases slowed relative to prior quarters.
The company also reported approximately $5 billion in USD reserves following its preferred stock repurchases. Colonnese noted that those reserves provide more than three years of coverage for the company’s dividend and interest obligations, giving the balance sheet a cushion that pure-play crypto exposure rarely affords.
The preferred stock buyback program totaled $2 billion during the quarter. Management chose to redirect capital toward repurchasing its preferred shares, designated STRC, rather than continuing to add Bitcoin at the pace investors had come to expect. The annual dividend rate on those preferred shares sits at 12%, and Strategy has signaled its intent to maintain that rate while leaving room for modest Bitcoin accumulation going forward.
Revenue came in slightly below the prior-year period, making Q3 a record earnings quarter that nonetheless carried a quiet asterisk.
The strategic pivot behind the numbers
Strategy’s management has articulated a long-term goal of doubling its Bitcoin holdings per share over a seven-year period. The pause in active Bitcoin buying is not a retreat from that goal, according to the company’s framing, but a tactical step to shore up the financial structure that supports it.
Colonnese’s $250 target suggests he views the pivot as credible and the underlying asset base as sufficient to justify the valuation. The analyst consensus sits in a similar range, with average price targets between $245 and $250 and an overall rating of Moderate Buy across the covering analyst community.
The $5 billion reserve figure is probably the most important number in the near-term story. It answers the question of whether Strategy can actually sustain a 12% annual dividend while maintaining any Bitcoin exposure at all, and the answer, based on management’s own framing, appears to be yes for at least the next three years without adding a single satoshi.
