Benchmark analysts cheer Strategy's pivot to STRC as ‘primary engine’ for bitcoin accumulation

Shares of Strategy (MSTR) traded around $130 on Thursday morning after Benchmark reiterated its "buy" rating on the stock, arguing the company’s latest strategic shift could accelerate the firm's growth in bitcoin per share.

On Wednesday, during Executive Chairman Michael Saylor’s keynote at Strategy World 2026 in Las Vegas, he outlined a move away from urging corporations to add bitcoin to their balance sheets and toward promoting STRC, the company’s flagship perpetual preferred, as the primary funding vehicle for future bitcoin purchases.

In a note to clients, Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer characterized STRC as the "primary engine" for funding Strategy’s bitcoin accumulation and said that focusing on the instrument positions the company to accelerate bitcoin per-share growth.

STRC dipped as low as $90 earlier this month but has since recovered to just below its $100 par value. The preferred currently offers an effective annual yield of roughly 11%, pays monthly dividends, and carries priority over common shareholders.

Balance sheet adoption out, digital credit in

At the conference, Saylor framed the shift as part of a broader "digital credit" vision, positioning bitcoin as "digital capital" that can be converted into yield-bearing instruments rather than held outright by corporate treasuries.

Under the model, proceeds from STRC issuance are used to acquire additional bitcoin. As holdings rise, Strategy aims to increase bitcoin per share for equity holders while offering preferred investors income with less direct exposure to bitcoin’s price swings.

Benchmark said the reflexivity of the structure remains intact. Strategy’s common stock trades at a premium to its net asset value, allowing the company to raise capital accretively and expand its bitcoin holdings. Protecting the integrity and price stability of STRC now governs capital allocation decisions, the analyst wrote.

The firm maintained its $705 price target based on a sum-of-the-parts analysis that includes projected bitcoin holdings at year-end 2026, a multiple applied to forecast BTC gains, and the value of Strategy’s legacy software business.

The note comes as digital asset treasury companies broadly face pressure following bitcoin’s pullback from late-2025 highs. Strategy now holds 717,722 BTC, representing over 3% of total supply, and has continued adding to its position through equity and preferred issuances. The firm is currently sitting on a more than $6.7 billion unrealized loss on its bitcoin holdings, according to Saylor Tracker data.