The billion-dollar business intelligence software firm MicroStrategy has revealed it plans to invest up to $250 million in alternative assets over the next 12 months, and specifically mentioned bitcoin as an option.
According to a transcript of the firm’s earnings call published by The Motley Fool, when addressing returning value to shareholders the company’s president and chief financial officer, Phong Le, noted that the firm has returned over $245 million to shareholders through the repurchase of 1.8 million shares since Q4 2018.
Le added that the firm’s capital allocation strategy in the future will be to “return a portion of this excess capital to our shareholders and invest a portion in assets with higher return profiles in cash.” He noted that as such MicroStrategy would allocate the return of an additional up to $250 million to shareholders over the next 12 months, and that the firm would invest another $250 million in alternative assets.
Le said:
In addition, we will seek to invest up to another $250 million over the next 12 months in one or more alternative investments or assets which may include stocks, bonds, commodities such as gold, digital assets such as Bitcoin, or other asset types.
In the earnings call, MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor pointed out that bitcoin, gold and silver are “showing strength,” and noted that it makes sense “to shift our treasury assets into some investments that can’t be inflated away.”
The firm’s motivation to seek alternative assets appears to be the Federal Reserve’s moves to stimulate the economy, which have seen its balance sheet surpass the $7 trillion mark for the first time ever. Taking into account the move, Saylor pointed out the firm expects increased volatility in the near future.
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