Strive’s bitcoin buying spree earns 27% price target hike from TD Cowen

TD Cowen analysts raised their price target for Strive Strive, Inc. (ASST) to $56 from a previous $44 on Friday.

Analysts Lance Vitanza and Jonnathan Navarrete noted the bitcoin treasury company bought more BTC in the past two weeks than they were projecting for the entire fourth quarter.

Strive's holdings climbed to 35,595 BTC, worth roughly $2.9 billion at current prices, from 28,000 at the end of September. The almost 7,600 increase has already far exceeded TD's previous forecast of 4,750 BTC in purchases for the quarter.

That accumulation included a 3,311 BTC purchase announced Tuesday, followed by another 2,822 BTC on Wednesday, giving Strive the fourth-largest bitcoin holdings among publicly traded companies, just ahead of MARA's reported 35,77 BTC.

However, the ballooning treasury holdings have come with more shares outstanding, putting ASST "under pressure."

"Despite rapid BTC accumulation, the substantial increase in diluted shares associated with warrant exercises pressured BTC Yield," the analysts wrote.

The analysts noted some investors may have sold the shares they received from exercising warrants, but with no more $27 warrants left, they expect that pressure to ease up.

ASST shares were down 6.6% to $23.96 on Friday, though the stock remains up more than 38% year to date.

Strive also expanded its SATS preferred share offering to 7 million shares at $90 each, looking to raise $630 million. The offering is expected to close Oct. 20, with the company planning to set aside enough cash to cover 18 months of dividend payments.

TD Cowen expects the offering to help fund even more bitcoin buying without adding more common shares.