Bitcoin firm MicroStrategy pops 27% in two days as company’s crypto stake hits $11 billion
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor speaks at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention, a crypto-currency conference held at the Mana Convention Center in Wynwood on June 04, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
MicroStrategy‘s HODL strategy is continuing to reward investors.
The company said on Monday that it acquired an additional 3,000 bitcoins for a total of $155 million between Feb. 15 and Feb. 25. MicroStrategy, along with its subsidiaries, now owns about 193,000 bitcoins worth $11 billion.
Michael Saylor, the company’s chairman and ex-CEO and one of the cryptocurrency’s principal evangelists, touted the latest purchase in a post on X, noting that MicroStrategy’s average purchase price over time is $31,544. As of Tuesday, bitcoin is trading at just under $57,000.
MicroStrategy shares surged 16% on Monday and another 10% on Tuesday to close at $871.80.
Founded in 1989, MicroStategy has a business in enterprise software and cloud-based services, but its shareholder value is almost entirely tied to its bitcoin ownership, effectively making the company a proxy for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.
During MicroStrategy’s latest earnings call on Feb. 7, CFO Andrew King said the company is “the largest corporate holder of bitcoin in the world, and we have remained committed to our bitcoin acquisition strategy with the highest conviction.”
Bitcoin has jumped about 35% this year to its highest since December 2021. Ether, the next-biggest cryptocurrency, is up 42% in 2024, climbing to around $3,250 on Tuesday.
Investors have been increasingly bullish on the bitcoin trade following the SEC’s approval of multiple spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds last month. Bitcoin is up 24% since new ETFs began to trade on Jan. 11, and the funds have brought in billions of dollars in flows.
“The demand that ETFs are bringing to the spot bitcoin market is significantly more than the new supply being produced each day,” said Ryan Rasmussen, an analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. “Institutional capital is still getting up to speed with bitcoin ETFs. I expect a lot more demand is still under the surface and yet to be seen.”
Also buoying trader sentiment is the “halving” event, which occurs every four years and is next set for April. At that point, the production of bitcoin gets cut in half, a process meant to reduce the rate at which new coins can enter the network.
Halvings precede bull runs
The first three halvings — in 2012, 2016, and 2020 — were all tied to bull runs in the price of bitcoin. Research firm Benchmark said in a note on Tuesday that the most recent halving in May 2020 “preceded bitcoin’s dramatic rise from $8,572 to an all-time high of $67,566 in 2021.”
MicroStrategy announced its plan to invest in bitcoin in mid-2020, disclosing in an earnings call that it would commit $250 million over the next 12 months to “one or more alternative assets,” which could include digital currencies like bitcoin. At the time, the company’s market cap was about $1.1 billion.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company had its largest single quarterly increase in bitcoin holdings since the end of 2020. Meanwhile, its software and services business generated about $124.5 million in sales in the fourth quarter.
The company is up 33% so far this year, lifting its market cap to almost $15 billion.
Benchmark wrote in its report that even with ETFs providing more ways for investors to access bitcoin, MicroStrategy’s “stock continues to offer investors a unique value proposition.” For example, MicroStrategy has the ability to acquire bitcoin using proceeds from debt and equity issuances, the firm said.
Analysts at TD Cowen wrote in a note on Tuesday that they expect the bitcoin transactions to “prove over time to be accretive to shareholders.”
“MicroStrategy represents a new kind of firm that generates dollar-based cash flow from enterprise software and cloud services but then converts its excess cash flow – on an effectively leveraged basis – into Bitcoin,” the TD Cowen analysts wrote. “What started as a defensive strategy to protect the value of its reserve assets has become an opportunistic strategy intended to accelerate the creation of shareholder value.”
— CNBC’s Dylan Butts and Ari Levy contributed to this report.
First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.
The factory began production quietly in July, a few months ahead of schedule, and employs more than 700 people. First Solar expects that number to hit 826 by the end of the year. Once it’s fully online, the site will add 3.5 GW of annual manufacturing capacity. That brings the company’s total US footprint to 14 GW in 2026 and 17.7 GW in 2027, when its newly announced South Carolina plant is anticipated to come online.
The Louisiana plant produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using US-made materials — glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel from Mississippi, which is fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
The new factory leans heavily on AI, from computer vision that spots defects on the line to deep learning tools that help technicians make real‑time adjustments.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the investment is already a win for the region, bringing in “hundreds of good-paying jobs and new opportunities for Louisiana workers and businesses.” A new economic impact analysis from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that the factory will boost Iberia Parish’s GDP by 4.4% in its first full year at capacity. The average manufacturing compensation package comes in at around $90,000, more than triple the parish’s per capita income.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar framed the new facility as a major step for US clean energy manufacturing: “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”
This site joins what’s already the largest solar manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere: three factories in Ohio, one in Alabama, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. Just last week, First Solar announced a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore more Series 6 module work. By the end of 2026, the company expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people across the US.
Read more: First Solar pours $330M into a new South Carolina solar factory
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No, it’s not the new Bolt. GM’s design team previewed a new high-riding “sporty Chevrolet EV” that should be brought to life.
Is Chevy launching a new sporty EV?
This is the all-electric vehicle Chevy should sell in the US. General Motors’ design team released a series of sketches previewing a sporty new Chevy EV.
Although it kinda looks like the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV as a higher-sitting compact crossover SUV, the design offers a fresh take on what it should have looked like.
The new Bolt is essentially a modernized version of the outgoing EUV model with a similar compact crossover silhouette. Nissan adopted a similar style with the new 2026 LEAF as buyers continue shifting from smaller sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and SUVs.
Will we see the sporty Chevy EV in real life? It’s not likely. For one, the “exploration sketch” is by GM China Advanced designer Charles Huang.
GM Design posted the sketches on its global social media page, but the caption read “Sporty Chevrolet EV for the China Market.”
It’s too bad. The Bolt could use a sporty sibling like an SS variant. Chevy introduced the Blazer EV SS (check out our review) for the 2026 model year, its fastest “SS” model yet. Packing up to 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Chevy Blazer SS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds when using Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode.
Will the Bolt be next? I wouldn’t get my hopes up. And if GM does bring the sporty Chevy EV to life, it will likely only be sold in China. Like all the fun cars these days.
What do you think of the design? Would you buy one of these in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
While deliveries of the 2027 Bolt are set to begin in early 2026, Chevy is offering some sweet deals on its current EV lineup, including up to $4,000 off in Customer Cash and 0% APR financing for 60 months.
Ready to test drive one? You can use our links below to find Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs at a dealership near you.
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Podcast: Electricity is the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss electricity becoming the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, the new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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