According to data shared by Michael Saylor on X, MSTR has returned a whopping 52% in gains a year since August 10, 2020. Unexpectedly, it beat Bitcoin, which has managed only 38% returns a year over the course of these six years.
Traditional options are even tamer.
The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) returned 19% a year. The S&P 500 (SPY) rose 16%, and gold (GLD) gave back 12%. US real estate (VNQ) managed 5%.
Somehow, US bonds (BND) actually lost money, down 0.91% a year.
In a nutshell, the stock that just buys Bitcoin has beaten Bitcoin itself. But still, it is mostly leverage at work. Strategy just borrows and issues shares to buy more BTC, which is a gamble that can take the company’s stock in either direction.
The comparison goes further
Moving on, Saylor’s next tweet reported a $21 billion gain on digital assets in Q3 2026. Put that number next to the latest quarterly operating income of the biggest S&P 500 companies, and they’re at number 7.
NVIDIA leads with $64 billion, followed by Micron at $44 billion, Alphabet and Microsoft at $41 billion each, Apple at $36 billion, and Amazon at $27 billion.
Then comes Strategy, ahead of Meta at $19 billion, Broadcom at $16 billion, and Walmart at $9 billion.
All this comes down to one plan
When BTC goes up, the pile on Strategy’s balance sheet is worth more. Q3 was one of those quarters.
2026 has been a good example. By late June, MSTR was down almost 47% for the year. Bitcoin was down about 33%. It was a rough summer for both.
Then mid-August hit, and MSTR went from roughly 41% down to 4.6% up. Bitcoin recovered too, but it’s still about 2% in the red, trading near $85K.
The stock is now ahead of the very coin it holds.
Final Summary
- Strategy says MSTR has returned 52% a year since 2020, beating Bitcoin’s 38%.
- Their Q3 Bitcoin gain ranks 7th against those of top S&P 500 companies.
