Kendrick attributed the preceding selloff to three specific factors that he believed were inherently temporary :
Because these pressures were one-time events or cyclical in nature, Kendrick concluded the selling was 'self-limiting' . He wagered that once the forced sellers were done, the path of least resistance would be upward.
The call was remarkable not for its bullishness, but for the bearish developments it chose to set aside. Here is a summary of the key headwinds active at the time of his June 2026 call:
| Bearish Factor | The Evidence He Acknowledged |
|---|---|
| Strategy's first-ever large Bitcoin sale — The world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder, then known as MicroStrategy, sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million between June 29 and July 5, 2026. This was its largest sale ever, executed well below its average cost basis of $75,476 . The sale broke Michael Saylor's longstanding 'never sell' pledge and was explicitly designed to fund preferred stock dividends . | Kendrick noted the event but argued it was a manageable portfolio adjustment that did not change the long-term thesis . |
| Bitcoin ~50% below its $126,000 all-time high — At the time of the call, Bitcoin had fallen 53% from its October 2025 peak near $126,000 . | He treated this as a valuation reset that created a buying opportunity, not a sign of structural damage. |
| Ongoing ETF outflows — The very mechanism Kendrick blamed for the decline was still active . | He bet these flows would pause, but they had not yet done so. |
| Multiple downward revisions to his own targets — Standard Chartered's 2026 year-end forecast had been cut twice in six months: from $300,000 to $150,000 in December 2025, and then to $100,000 in February 2026 — a two-thirds reduction from the original call . |
Kendrick's 'screaming buy' call is best understood as a bet that the known catalysts for the decline had exhausted themselves. It was not a bet on any new positive catalyst — no surprise rate cut, no ETF approval, no regulatory breakthrough. He saw a clear floor near $59,000 and argued that from that level, the asymmetry favored the bulls .
'The call is a contrarian bet that the worst is over — so far unsupported by a reversal in any of the underlying headwinds,' as the analysis above shows. Whether the thesis holds depends on whether ETF outflows truly pause, whether macro conditions ease, and whether Strategy's new 'selling to pay dividends' regime marks a lasting change in behavior or a one-time adjustment.
For now, the call stands as one of Wall Street's most prominent bullish bets in a market that has already humbled many forecasters.
| Kendrick acknowledged the cuts candidly, telling investors in February that he expected 'more pain' before a recovery . |