TD Cowen Lifts Strive Price Target 27% as Bitcoin Buying Outpaces Forecasts

TD Cowen analysts Lance Vitanza and Jonnathan Navarrete raised their target on Strive (ASST) to $56 from $44 on Friday. In their view, the company has already bought more bitcoin over the past two weeks than they expected for the whole fourth quarter. Holdings now stand at 35,595 BTC, worth about $2.9 billion, up from 28,000 at the end of September. That gain of nearly 7,600 BTC compares with the firm’s earlier forecast of 4,750 BTC for the quarter.

Recent Purchases Lift Strive Past MARA

The jump included a 3,311 BTC purchase announced Tuesday and another 2,822 BTC on Wednesday. Those buys put Strive in fourth place among publicly traded bitcoin holders, narrowly ahead of MARA’s reported holdings.

Share Dilution and Stock Pressure

Faster buying has meant more shares outstanding. The analysts said heavy warrant exercises diluted the stock and weighed on BTC Yield, and some investors may have sold shares received through those exercises. With no $27 warrants left, they expect that pressure to fade. ASST fell 6% to $23.09 on Friday, though it is still up more than 38% this year.

$630 Million Preferred Share Offering

Strive has expanded its SATS preferred offering to 7 million shares at $90 each, aiming to raise $630 million, with closing expected Oct. 20. The company plans to set aside enough cash to cover 18 months of dividend payments. TD Cowen believes the raise can fund more bitcoin purchases without issuing additional common shares.