Strategy books a record $20.9 billion operating profit on its bitcoin, but its bitcoin per share is down 3.7 percent this year after $432 million of coin sales

Strategy posted the biggest quarter in its history on Thursday, and also admitted that the number its investors watch most has gone the wrong way. Operating income for the three months to September 30 was $20.91 billion, against $3.89 billion a year earlier, and net income was $19.53 billion, or $44.75 per diluted share, according to the company's release. Almost all of it is a $20.91 billion accounting gain on its bitcoin, which it now marks to market each quarter. The software business shrank again, with revenue down 3 percent to $125.4 million.

The company held about 848,517 bitcoin as of October 25, up 26 percent this year, bought for $64.02 billion at an average of about $75,446 a coin. At the $81,200 price it used, from October 23, the stash was worth $68.90 billion. Bitcoin fell below $77,000 on Thursday night after the Binance hack, which brings that cushion close to $1,500 a coin.

The uncomfortable part is BTC Yield, Strategy's measure of bitcoin per share. It stands at minus 3.7 percent year to date, which the company says equals 24,947 bitcoin, or about $2.03 billion, less than shareholders would otherwise own. Strategy raised $21.23 billion in equity this year and bought $14.33 billion of bitcoin, but it also sold about $431.8 million of coin to help pay preferred dividends and buy back STRC stock. It has repurchased 20,980,508 STRC shares for about $2.04 billion, at an average of $97.39, with about $956.7 million of authorization left.

The company said its $4.83 billion dollar reserve covers about 3.4 years of dividends and interest, and that daily dividends on STRC begin in November. CFO Andrew Kang steps down on November 5, with Reza Virasteh taking over on January 1. CoinDesk noted that STRC traded at $99.94 on Thursday, its highest since May, and that bitcoin buying could resume if it returns to $100. Michael Saylor said: "We're at the beginning of the next bitcoin bull market."