MW MicroStrategy just posted a huge profit. It's the second time riding on an accounting rule change.

By Claudia Assis

Wall Street expected a modest quarterly loss of the bitcoin holder

MicroStrategy Inc., the enterprise-software company that calls itself the largest corporate holder of cryptocurrency, posted a massive quarterly profit late Thursday, thanks to a recent accounting rule change and a recent rally for bitcoin.

MicroStrategy (MSTR), which does business as Strategy, said that its operating income ballooned to $14.03 billion, an year-on-year increase of more than 7,000% as it included an unrealized gain on the company's digital assets of $14 billion, which MicroStrategy was allowed to count because of the accounting change.

The stock dipped 1.3% in the extended session Thursday, as it was the second quarter that MicroStrategy was allowed to factor in the unrealized gains on its digital assets.

The company reported net income of $10.02 billion, or $32.60 a share, versus a net loss of $102.6 million, or 57 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2024.

Analysts polled by FactSet modeled a second-quarter GAAP loss of 10 cents a share.

MicroStrategy guided for full-year operating income of $34 billion, net income of $24 billion and earnings of $80 a share, based on a bitcoin price outlook of $150,000 by the end of the year, it said.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect a GAAP loss of $16.32 a share for the year.

The company said it holds 628,791 bitcoins (BTCUSD), at a total cost of $46.07 billion, or $73,277 per token year to date.

The company recently passed on buying more bitcoin, the first time it had done so in three months. That led the lone analyst bearish on the company to make a case for selling the stock.

MicroStrategy began amassing its bitcoin fortress in 2020 as a defense against inflation.

The stock is up about 39% so far this year, compared with gains of around 8% for the S&P 500 index SPX.

-Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 31, 2025 20:37 ET (00:37 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.