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Strategy cofounder Michael Saylor (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

MicroStrategy announces initial public offering of 5 million shares of STRC

Ben Walsh, Matt Phillips

Strategy, the bitcoin firm previously known as MicroStrategy, announced Monday after market close that it’s offering 5 million perpetual preferred shares to raise more cash for corporate purposes and to, well, perform its main corporate purpose: buying bitcoin.

Strategy, a pioneer of the so-called “treasury strategy” companies whose entire business appears to be purchasing cryptocurrency and hoping that its price goes up, was little changed in the after-hours session. It’s up more than 47% this year and almost 140% over the last 12 months.

These shares will pay a annual dividend of 9% that is subject to change at management’s discretion with the stated aim of keeping the price close to $100.

Strategy has diversified its money-raising-to-buy-bitcoin efforts, expanding to both debt and preferred shares, in part seemingly to undercut short sellers’ case that the shares should go down because they trade at a premium to the value of the firm’s bitcoin holdings.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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