Ticker Teardown Dossier
MicroStrategy ($MSTR), taken apart the way the desk does.
MicroStrategy (MSTR) Teardown Dossier · As of 2026-11-05, refreshed after Q3 2026 results
The MSTR dossier is the desk's MicroStrategy teardown written out as a document, plus what a five-minute video cannot carry: the last eight quarters of MicroStrategy's own SEC filings in one table (fiscal years for a foreign filer whose quarterly reports carry no structured data), a peer comparison with numbers, the level map rebuilt from the latest close, and a link to every filing used. Rebuilt after each quarterly print.
Look inside before you buy
1,905 words · about 8 min to read · 9 sections · data as of 5 November 2026 · last refreshed after Q3 2026 results
Table of contents
- What is in this dossier
- What this is not
- 1. The teardown
- The setup
- The business: what it is
- The price: stock vs coins
- Who stands in front: September 30
- Redo the math: our estimate
- The cost of the claims
- Halfway
- Bitcoin per share: 2026
- The buybacks: 2026
- The record profit: Q3 2026
- The case against
- The chart: Thursday's close
- The verdict
- 2. What changed since it was written
- 3. The filings: the last eight quarters
- 4. Valuation against the peers
- 5. Level map
- 6. Sources
- 7. What this dossier cannot do
Excerpt
1. The teardown
Written 2026-11-06, with prices as of 2026-11-05. Figures in this part are as the desk read them that day; parts 2 to 5 carry the numbers as of 2026-11-05.
The setup
Strategy owns about 849,000 bitcoin, worth about $64.6 billion at Thursday's close. Its common stock was worth about 54.7 billion. The shares are priced below the coins. Is the market wrong, or is someone standing in front of the shareholders?
The business: what it is
It is the company once called MicroStrategy. It still sells analytics software, $125 million of revenue in the third quarter, down 3%. But the business is the bitcoin. As of November 1, it held 849,327 coins. The average cost was $75,451 each.
The price: stock vs coins
Bitcoin closed Thursday at $76,078. That puts the stack only about 1% above what Strategy paid. Multiply it out and the coins are worth about 64.6 billion. The common stock, at $129.30, was worth about 54.7 billion. That is about 0.85 times the bitcoin, our arithmetic.
Who stands in front: September 30
Here is who stands in front. At the end of September, Strategy owed about $6.7 billion of debt, mostly convertible notes. It also had about $14.1 billion of preferred stock, by liquidation preference. Those are the shares called Strike, Strife, Stretch, Stride and Stream. Together, about $20.8 billion is paid before the common gets anything.
One table from the document
3. The filings: the last eight quarters
| USD millions, period ended | 2024-12-31 | 2025-03-31 | 2025-06-30 | 2025-09-30 | 2025-12-31 | 2026-03-31 | 2026-06-30 | 2026-09-30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal period | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 |
| Source filing | 10-K 2025-02-18 | 10-Q 2025-05-05 | 10-Q 2025-08-05 | 10-Q 2025-11-03 | 10-K 2026-02-19 | 10-Q 2026-05-06 | 10-Q 2026-08-03 | 10-Q 2026-11-02 |
| Revenue | 120.7 | 111.1 | 114.5 | 128.7 | 123.0 | 124.3 | 122.4 | 125.4 |
| Gross margin | 71.7% | 69.4% | 68.8% | 70.5% | 66.1% | 67.1% | 66.6% | 71.5% |
| Operating income | -1,016 | -5,921 | 14,032 | 3,891 | -17,446 | -14,470 | -8,331 | 20,910 |
| Net income | -670.8 | -4,217 | 10,021 | 2,785 | -12,437 | -12,543 | -8,220 | 19,533 |
| Operating cash flow | -17.3 | -2.4 | -34.9 | -8.3 | -21.6 | 14.0 | -4.1 | 4.4 |
| Capex | -0.3 | -2.7 | -2.1 | -2.8 | -0.6 | -1.0 | -1.8 | -0.5 |
| Free cash flow | -17.6 | -5.1 | -37.0 | -11.1 | -22.2 | 13.0 | -5.9 | 4.0 |
| Cash and equivalents | 38.1 | 60.3 | 50.1 | 54.3 | 2,301 | 2,207 | 1,712 | 2,501 |
| Debt (book, excl. leases) | 7,192 | 8,141 | 8,163 | 8,174 | 8,190 | 8,197 | 6,710 | 6,715 |
| Diluted shares (M) | 192.5* | 256.5 | 306.8 | 315.4 | 277.7* | 333.9 | 352.5 | 428.0 |
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It reads our $MSTR data (thesis, key levels, peers, a year of prices) and any chart screenshot you paste, then explains the setup in plain English. Free with an email login, 5 questions a day. Education only: it never tells you to buy or sell, and it can be wrong, so check the numbers.
What the dossier has that the video does not
The filings themselves: revenue, gross margin, operating income, net income, operating cash flow, capex, free cash flow, cash, debt and diluted shares, quarter by quarter, each column dated with the filing it comes from. A foreign filer whose quarterly reports carry no structured data gets its fiscal years, and the dossier says so.
Never stale
Every dossier carries an "as of" date and the quarter it was last refreshed after. It is rebuilt after each print, and the desk's daily check flags any dossier left more than 45 days without a refresh. The written teardown keeps its date, and a "what changed since" section gives the move in the price and the filings since.
What is inside
- The teardown in writing: the business, the bull case, the full bear case and the verdict, dated.
- What changed since it was written: the price move and every SEC filing since.
- Eight quarters of the company's own SEC filings in one table, each column dated, with a plain read of what the table says.
- Peers with numbers: market cap, revenue growth, operating margin, EV / sales and distance from the 52-week high.
- The level map rebuilt from the latest close: where the price sits against the 52-week range and each level.
- Sources: a link to every filing and results release used.
Buy it if
- You hold or watch $MSTR and want a structured read before acting.
- You want levels you can check on the chart, not an opinion.
Skip it if
- You want a buy signal. A dossier explains and maps; it does not signal.
- You want every name on the desk. The Teardown Library covers every dossier, current and future, for less than four dossiers.
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An educational research publication, not investment advice, trade signals, a managed account, or an advisory service. Nothing in it is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. See our disclosures.