Quick Read
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MicroStrategy (MSTR) posted a $12.44B net loss in Q4 2025 with quarterly software revenue of just $123M against a $61B market cap, while operating as a leveraged bitcoin proxy that raised $25.3B in capital during 2025 to accumulate digital assets. CME Group (CME) posted Q1 2026 revenue of $1.88B (up 14.5% YoY), net income up 20% to $1.15B, and returned $3.9B in dividends during 2025, with all six asset classes hitting quarterly highs and operating margin of 69.8%.
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MicroStrategy’s stock movements are driven by bitcoin holdings and accounting rather than software fundamentals, making CME a structurally superior alternative for investors seeking real earnings, cash returns, and exposure to growing derivatives trading volumes across all asset classes.
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The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and CME Group wasn’t one of them. Get them here FREE.
MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), now operating as Strategy, is once again the loudest ticker in the room, riding a 55.97% one-month rally and a 12.79% weekly pop on the back of yet another bitcoin treasury announcement. But here is what you should actually be watching.
Strip away the bitcoin accounting and there is barely a company underneath. Q4 2025 produced a $12.44 billion net loss and diluted EPS of -$42.93, driven almost entirely by a $17.44 billion unrealized loss on digital assets under ASU 2023-08. Quarterly software revenue was just $122.99M against a market cap north of $61 billion. The price-to-sales ratio sits at 134.95, operating margin is -44.02%, and beta is 3.595. CEO Phong Le openly described the model as raising “$25.3 billion of capital in 2025” to buy more bitcoin, with another $8.1 billion in common ATM and $29+ billion in preferred ATM capacity still queued. The STRC preferred carries an 11.25% dividend rate. Polymarket traders price a 41.5% chance MSTR sells some bitcoin by year-end and a 27.5% chance of MSCI delisting. This is a leveraged bitcoin proxy wearing a software ticker.
The redirect is the house that takes a cut every time MSTR’s traders sweat: CME Group (NASDAQ:CME). It owns the volatility without owning the asset.
The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and CME Group wasn’t one of them. Get them here FREE.
Three reasons CME stands out versus MSTR for long-horizon investors
1. Records across every asset class, not just crypto. Q1 2026 delivered revenue of $1.88 billion (up 14.5% YoY), GAAP net income up 20% to $1.15 billion, and a record 36.2 million contracts in average daily volume, up 22% YoY. All six asset classes, interest rates, equity indexes, FX, energy, agricultural commodities and metals, hit quarterly highs. Crypto exposure flows through 24/7 cryptocurrency futures and options, keeping the asset off CME’s balance sheet.
