STRC closed at $99.36, its 112th straight close under $100, while Strategy reported $193M of STRC repurchases against $22.1M of bitcoin purchases.
Strategy's 8-K filed Oct 19 shows a choice about where the money went. For Oct 12 to Oct 18 the company bought 267 BTC for $22.1M, at an average price of $82,900. In the same filing it reported STRC repurchases with a cost of $193M and raised its repurchase authorization. Stock sales through the at-the-market program brought in net proceeds of $22.0M. The filing summary doesn't say what paid for the buyback, so we won't guess at that. Our read: with STRC under its $100 stated amount, retiring shares is where Strategy chose to put most of its reported spending that week.
STRC rose 1.68% to $99.36 on Oct 23 and has now closed under $100 for 112 straight sessions. Its last close at or above $100 was May 14, and 161 calendar days have passed since the first close under. The buyback has not yet moved it back to par. For holders, the stated rate and the current yield are different numbers. STRC's stated rate is 12.00% on the $100 stated amount. Its current yield, the annual dividend divided by the price, is 12.08%. Dividends on these perpetual preferreds are paid at the issuer's discretion. They are not guaranteed. On Oct 28, STRC holders vote on switching to daily dividends from Nov 1.
MSTR rose 6.73% to $146.04 while bitcoin fell 0.52% to $81,078. Strategy's mNAV, enterprise value divided by bitcoin held, went from 1.11x to 1.18x. Over the past year it has ranged from 1.03x to 1.51x. ASST moved further: it rose 20.26%, and its mNAV went from 1.36x to 1.58x. The preferreds did not move together. STRF fell 2.22%, STRK fell 2.72%, and STRD fell 1.92%. STRC rose 1.68%, and SATA rose 1.17%. The buyback program is specific to STRC, so the other Strategy preferreds had no matching support in this week's filings.
The coverage figures give context for why Strategy can afford to spend on this. bitcoin and cash cover 49.4 years of preferred dividends, and cash alone covers 3.5 years. Preferred dividends run $1.50B a year at current rates, and the breakeven bitcoin return is 2.02% a year. Those are measures of capacity, not promises of payment. Three things matter next: the Oct 28 vote, whether STRC closes at or above $100 for the first time since May 14, and whether Monday's 8-K again shows STRC repurchases larger than bitcoin purchases.