MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin conviction ‘strong’ as it posts Q1 profit

A one-time income tax benefit helped the firm reach a profit of $94 million in the first quarter of 2023.

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Business intelligence platform MicroStrategy has reiterated its commitment to its Bitcoin (BTC) investment strategy after turning its first quarterly profit since 2020.

The Michael Saylor-founded firm went back into the green in the first quarter of 2023 with a profit of $94 million, which was largely attributed to a one-time income tax benefit of $453.2 million.

In addition to the tax benefit, the firm cashed in $121.9 million in revenue, up 2.2% from the same time last year.

Phong Lee, the firm’s CEO, explained in the May 1 statement that MicroStrategy’s “conviction” in its Bitcoin (BTC) investment strategy is as “strong” as ever:

“The conviction in our Bitcoin strategy remains strong as the digital asset environment continues to mature.”

“We remain disciplined on costs while investing in growth, and we will continue to execute our dual strategy of growing our business intelligence software business and acquiring Bitcoin for the future,” he added.

Lee also stressed that its “core business” is not impacted by short-term price fluctuations in BTC.

Please join the @MicroStrategy management team at 5pm ET as we discuss our Q1 2023 $MSTR financial results and answer questions about our business and outlook for #BusinessIntelligence and #Bitcoin.https://t.co/pHrjKvWsDU

— Michael Saylor?? (@saylor) May 1, 2023

Saylor, who serves as MicroStrategy’s chairman, attributed the successful quarter to sharp execution in the firm’s core business model and its Bitcoin investment thesis, which he described as the “right strategy,” adding:

“So ultimately, it’s not easy to see what better strategy there might be. And so, we are strong proponents of a Bitcoin strategy. And as you can see from this chart, simply acquiring and holding Bitcoin in a prudent fashion is a pretty good way to outperform the market.”

The Bitcoin advocate predicted that investors will soon exit their positions on crypto assets that are “under the microscope in the regulatory environment,” which in turn will “flow into Bitcoin.”

MicroStrategy chief financial officer Andrew Kang added the firm also managed to reduce its leverage by repaying its $161 million Bitcoin-backed loan from the now-collapsed Silverage Bank:

“By retiring the debt, we also released all of the Bitcoin that were pledged as collateral securing the loan. This was an important and strategic transaction for us and our liability management goals.”

According to previous SEC filings, the business intelligence firm bought 7,500 BTC in Q1 across two purchases on March 23 and April 5 for a total of $179 million.

The firm now holds 140,000 BTC, which were collectively purchased at an average cost of about $29,803.

The firm’s turn to profit comes as BTC managed to rise 72% over the first quarter to about $28,300.

With the price of BTC at $28,100 currently, MicroStrategy is down around 5.7% on its Bitcoin investment.

The firm was however in the “green” for a period of time last month when BTC skyrocketed to its most recent high of $30,980 on April 15.