Strategy increases preferred stock buybacks
Alongside its Bitcoin purchase, Strategy continued buying back its STRC variable-rate preferred shares. The company repurchased 2,092,035 STRC shares for approximately $208.2 million, using funds from its USD Cash account.
The latest buyback was higher than the $204.9 million spent during the previous week, when Strategy temporarily stopped purchasing Bitcoin for the first time since mid-September. Before that pause, the company acquired 267 $BTC for $22.1 million.
Strategy's USD Cash balance declined to $132.7 million from $242.4 million a week earlier. Meanwhile, its separate USD Reserve, which is used to cover preferred stock dividends and interest payments on debt, stood at $4.79 billion after $43.4 million in dividend payments.
The company reported $4.9 billion in combined USD assets, providing enough coverage for an estimated 3.3 years of dividends and interest payments under its USD Duration measure. Strategy also has approximately $748.6 million remaining in its preferred stock repurchase program.
New dividend schedule and MSCI concerns
The latest financial activity comes as Strategy prepares to introduce daily dividend payments across its four preferred stock products. Shareholders approved the change last week, with November 1 marking the first daily record date for STRC dividends.
Despite its continued Bitcoin accumulation and preferred stock buybacks, Strategy faces questions about shareholder dilution. Bitcoin holdings per share have declined 3.7% this year, raising concerns about the impact of issuing additional shares to finance its growing Bitcoin position.
The company also faces a potential removal from MSCI equity indexes. The index provider finalized a rule in October that could exclude businesses whose balance sheets are largely dominated by a single asset.
MSCI is expected to publish its list of affected companies on November 11. A possible exclusion could affect demand for Strategy shares from funds that track the provider's indexes.