Japan’s Answer to Strategy: Metaplanet Initiated With Buy Rating at Benchmark

Key Points

1. Benchmark initiated coverage of Metaplanet with a buy rating and a ¥2,400 price target, representing about 50% upside from the stock's close of ¥1,650.

2. Analyst Mark Palmer compared Metaplanet to MicroStrategy due to its 'hyper-accumulation' strategy, aiming to hold 210,000 BTC by 2027 (1% of total supply).

3. Metaplanet's '555 Million Plan' involves issuing 555M moving strike warrants to raise ¥770B ($5.3B) over 6-10 months to fund further bitcoin purchases.

4. The company pivoted from a small hotel operator in April 2024 to a bitcoin-focused firm, delivering a 7,742% return since then.

5. Metaplanet trades at a 5.12x premium to net asset value (NAV), justified by its 8,655% increase in bitcoin holdings since Q3 2024.