MicroStrategy Shares Soar After Michael Saylor’s Departure

The jump comes less than a day after MicroStrategy revealed in its second-quarter earnings report that Michael Saylor would step down as CEO on August 8. Michael Saylor will instead focus on the company’s operations. “Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related bitcoin advocacy initiatives ” as executive chairman, while Phong Le will take over Saylor’s current role.

MicroStrategy revealed in the report that it made $122.1 million in revenue, while its net losses topped $1 billion. Most of that came from $917.8 million in impairment charges incurred due to the sharp decline in the value of bitcoin during the year.

Coinbase’s COIN also gained 10% on Wednesday, trading at about $74.57. The jump comes as the largest U.S. crypto-currency exchange has faced a variety of crises of late, including a battle with the SEC, allegations of insider trading, massive layoffs and the high-profile failure of its NFT marketplace. Coinbase has yet to release its Q2 earnings report, but it revealed that it posted a net loss of $430 million in the first quarter.

Because MicroStrategy and Coinbase are largely dependent on the success of bitcoin and the crypto-currency space, their stocks tend to move in tandem with the broader crypto market. According to data from CoinGecko, the capitalization of the global crypto-currency market gained 2.7 percent on Wednesday, which may be contributing to the rise in value of MicroStrategy and Coinbase.

Still, with crypto sentiment weakening after a months-long bloodletting, MicroStrategy and Coinbase still have a ways to go to regain their highs. MicroStrategy reached $859 when bitcoin climbed to $69,000 in November 2021, meaning it is currently about 64% off its peak. Coinbase has fared even worse, down about 78% from when it hit $342 in its Nasdaq debut in April 2021.