• MicroStrategy is one of the best ways for equity investors to gain bitcoin exposure, the report said.

• Canaccord raised its price target for the company to $300 from $173, while maintaining its buy rating on the shares.

• The broker said it was bullish about bitcoin's outlook following spot ETF approval in the U.S. and the halving event.

MicroStrategy (MSTR), the software company founded by Michael Saylor, remains one of the best ways that equity investors can gain exposure to bitcoin {{BTC}} given the company's intelligent leverage strategy, broker Canaccord said in a research report on Thursday.

The broker raised its MicroStrategy price target to $300 from $173 while maintaining its buy rating. The stock rose 0.4% to $245.50 in early trading Friday.

"If stock price is the true test for any business model, then in our view MSTR is hard to beat," analysts led by Joseph Vafi wrote, noting that since the firm adopted its bitcoin acquisition strategy in 2020 it has significantly outperformed both equities and the world's largest cryptocurrency.

The software company announced a $21 billion at-the-money offering of its own stock on Wednesday to raise money to buy more bitcoin, as part of a wider plan to buy another $42 billion of the crypto in the next three years.

MicroStrategy's leverage strategy "provides the potential for additional premium to spot to re-emerge in MSTR shares," the authors wrote.

Canaccord is also bullish about bitcoin's outlook. It said the cryptocurrency was biased higher due to the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. and their ensuing adoption, and supply constraints following the halving event earlier this year.

Read more: MicroStrategy's Current Premium Relative to Its Bitcoin Stack Is Unlikely to Last: Steno Research