MicroStrategy (MSTR) Stock Soars 25% in 5 Days as Bitcoin Hits $79K, Becomes Top Corporate Holder

MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) saw its stock surge over 25% in just five trading days, driven by a record-breaking Bitcoin acquisition and a sharp rally in Bitcoin’s price above $78,000. The move highlighted the company’s high sensitivity to Bitcoin price movements and its reliance on preferred stock issuance to fund treasury expansion.

Strategy’s stock opened April from a closing low near $119 on April 2, then climbed steadily throughout the month as Bitcoin prices recovered. By April 17, shares closed at $166.52 — a gain of more than 40% from that early-month trough. On April 17 alone, shares surged 11.8% in a single session on volume that far exceeded the daily average.

Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $78,000 as MicroStrategy Expands Holdings

Bitcoin price crossed $78,500 on April 22, up from an opening near $76,000, continuing a recovery that began the prior week. The move put Bitcoin up 11.1% from one month earlier and marked its highest level since early February.

On April 20, MicroStrategy disclosed that it purchased 34,164 BTC between April 13 and April 19, 2026, at an average price of $74,395 per coin, for a total outlay of approximately $2.54 billion. The acquisition is the company’s third-largest single purchase on record and the largest weekly accumulation since November 2024.

The purchase pushed MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 815,061 BTC — surpassing BlackRock’s 802,823 BTC held through its spot Bitcoin ETF products and making MicroStrategy the single largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The cumulative cost of all holdings now stands at approximately $61.56 billion, with an average purchase price of $75,527 per coin.

NEW: Bitcoin pumps over $78,000! pic.twitter.com/sQVFXewa2A
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 22, 2026

Preferred Stock Issuance Funds Majority of Bitcoin Purchase

Of the $2.54 billion raised to fund the acquisition, approximately $2.18 billion came from the sale of 21,795,389 shares of STRC — MicroStrategy’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock — while $366 million came from the sale of 2,165,000 shares of MSTR Class A common stock. STRC accounted for roughly 86% of the financing, reflecting Strategy’s stated pivot away from common equity dilution.

STRC recorded a $1.156 billion single-day trading volume on April 13, a record for the instrument. MicroStrategy also proposed shifting STRC dividend payments from a monthly to a semi-monthly schedule — a structural change designed to improve liquidity and reduce reinvestment delays for income-focused shareholders. The dividend on STRC remained at an annualized rate of 11.50% for April 2026, the first month at that rate without an increase after seven consecutive monthly hikes since the stock’s IPO in July 2025. The April 30 dividend payment stands at $0.958333 per share.

MicroStrategy retains $19.46 billion in remaining STRC capacity and $26.73 billion available under its MSTR common stock offering program.

Back-to-Back Bitcoin Purchases Fuel Growth

The 34,164 BTC purchase followed a $1 billion acquisition of 13,927 BTC completed between April 6 and April 12, which was funded entirely through the sale of 10,955,000 shares of STRC.