Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) remains the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), and that's paying off today. MSTR shares are up 4.9% to trade at $168.40 after Bitcoin breached the $86,000 level, pulling other crypto-related stocks higher as well. Plus, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on Strategy and almost doubled its price target to $240 from $136.
The brokerage bunch is leaning extremely bullish, with 17 of the 19 covering firms sporting a "buy" or better rating. The crypto stock is up 11.4% year to date, extending a bounce off support at the $150 level.
The security sports a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.31 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than 96% of all other readings from the past year, hinting at a much healthier-than-usual appetite for bullish bets of late.
Options are cheap at the moment, per MSTR's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 64% stands higher than just 4% of all other readings from the past year. It's also worth noting MSTR's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at a relatively high 99 out of 100, indicating Strategy stock has tended to exceed option traders' volatility expectations during the past year.
