MSTR vs RIOT Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Strategy is a bitcoin treasury holding company that acquires bitcoin through capital markets financing rather than operations, offering leveraged, financing-driven exposure to bitcoin price, while Riot Platforms is an operating bitcoin mining company that generates bitcoin directly through hash rate and power infrastructure. Both are high-beta bitcoin proxies, but they accumulate bitcoin through fundamentally different mechanisms — financial engineering versus industrial mining operations.
Use this MSTR vs RIOT comparison to evaluate two distinct approaches to public-market bitcoin exposure. Strategy offers leveraged financial exposure through debt-funded bitcoin accumulation and often trades at a premium to its underlying bitcoin net asset value; Riot offers operating leverage tied to mining economics, power costs, and hash rate growth.
RIOT holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. RIOT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+61.61% vs -64.68%), though MSTR has the better forward P/E setup (2.41x vs -21.21x for RIOT). RIOT leads on both revenue growth (13.90%) and operating margin (-122.33%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MSTR (+92.09%) than for RIOT (+63.40%).
- Want maximum leveraged equity exposure to bitcoin price through a dedicated corporate treasury strategy
- Are comfortable with the stock trading at a premium or discount to underlying bitcoin net asset value
- Accept convertible debt and preferred equity leverage as part of the bitcoin accumulation strategy
- View the legacy software business as a minor consideration relative to the bitcoin treasury thesis
- Prefer bitcoin exposure generated through operating mining activity rather than capital-markets-funded purchases
- Want exposure to one of the largest self-mining hash rate operators in North America
- Believe ERCOT demand-response and curtailment credits provide a durable cost advantage
- Are comfortable with high bitcoin-price sensitivity tied to mining economics rather than balance-sheet financial engineering
| Metric | MSTR | RIOT |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 45.2 | 50.1 |
| AI rank | #719 | #452 |
| Latest close | $119.25 | $19.83 |
| 1M return | +19.24% | -15.18% |
| 6M return | -7.88% | +22.26% |
| 1Y return | -64.68% | +61.61% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MSTR | RIOT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $3.53K (-64.7%) started 2025-08-21 | $16.16K (+61.6%) started 2025-08-21 |
| 5Y ago | $16.6K (+66.0%) started 2021-08-23 | $5.55K (-44.5%) started 2021-08-23 |
| 10Y ago | $71.46K (+614.6%) started 2016-08-22 | $80.48K (+704.8%) started 2016-08-22 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MSTR | RIOT |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $47.38B | $7.44B |
| Trailing P/E | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/E | 2.41 | -21.21 |
| Price/Sales | 95.07 | 11.03 |
| EV/Revenue | 129.59 | 11.63 |
| Analyst target | $229.07 | $32.40 |
| Target upside | +92.09% | +63.40% |
| Metric | MSTR | RIOT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 6.90% | 13.90% |
| Earnings growth | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growth | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margin | -4532.49% | -106.57% |
| Operating margin | -6808.11% | -122.33% |
| Profit margin | 0.00% | -196.28% |
| ROIC proxy | -63.56% | -48.24% |
| Return on equity | -63.56% | -48.24% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Beta | 3.56 | 3.85 |
| Debt/equity | 14.94 | 40.03 |
| Current ratio | 5.39 | 1.58 |
| Quick ratio | 5.22 | 1.17 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MSTR | RIOT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -64.68% | +61.61% |
| CAGR | -64.70% | +61.67% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -1.05 | 0.93 | |
| Max drawdown | 77.12% | 48.57% | |
| Max daily drop | 17.12% | 14.71% | |
| Max wkly drop | 26.86% | 28.93% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +65.97% | -44.50% |
| CAGR | +10.68% | -11.12% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.51 | 0.29 | |
| Max drawdown | 84.11% | 92.55% | |
| Max daily drop | 25.55% | 19.18% | |
| Max wkly drop | 54.10% | 40.88% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +614.59% | +617.31% |
| CAGR | +21.74% | +21.79% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.57 | 0.68 | |
| Max drawdown | 89.27% | 98.32% | |
| Max daily drop | 26.00% | 33.90% | |
| Max wkly drop | 54.10% | 43.31% |
| Category | MSTR | RIOT |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Strategy Inc. | Riot Platforms, Inc. |
| Sector | Bitcoin Treasury | Bitcoin Mining |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Formerly known as MicroStrategy, now operates primarily as a corporate bitcoin treasury holding company, acquiring bitcoin through equity and convertible debt issuance while retaining a legacy enterprise analytics software business as a secondary segment. | Large-scale Bitcoin mining company operating industrial-scale facilities in Texas, with a strategy emphasizing scale, vertical integration, and grid-curtailment revenue from ERCOT demand-response programs, generating bitcoin through mining operations rather than open-market purchases. |
| Investor focus | Size and growth of bitcoin holdings per share, cost of capital used to fund additional bitcoin purchases (convertible debt, preferred stock, equity issuance), and net asset value premium/discount relative to underlying bitcoin holdings. | Hash rate expansion, all-in power cost per bitcoin mined, ERCOT curtailment credits, and the pace of bitcoin holdings accumulation from mining versus sales to fund operations. |
- One of the largest corporate holders of bitcoin globally, offering leveraged equity exposure to bitcoin price appreciation
- Demonstrated ability to access capital markets (convertible debt, preferred equity) specifically to fund continued bitcoin accumulation
- First-mover brand recognition as the original public company bitcoin treasury strategy, attracting a dedicated shareholder base
- Generates bitcoin directly through mining operations rather than relying on capital markets to purchase bitcoin at market price
- One of the largest self-mining hash rate operators in North America with significant scale advantages
- Texas-based facilities benefit from ERCOT demand-response programs that can generate meaningful curtailment credit revenue
- Stock can trade at a premium or discount to the net asset value of its bitcoin holdings, creating valuation risk independent of bitcoin price itself
- Heavy use of convertible debt and preferred equity creates leverage and potential dilution or refinancing risk
- Legacy software business is a small and declining part of the overall investment thesis relative to the bitcoin treasury strategy
- High sensitivity to bitcoin price given large mined-and-held reserves and mining-driven revenue model
- Post-halving mining economics require continued efficiency gains and low-cost power to sustain margins
- Regulatory and grid-policy risk given reliance on Texas power markets and demand-response revenue
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.