TD Cowen Initiates Strive With a Buy and $26 Target: The Anti-ESG Asset Manager Is Making Waves on Wall Street

Strive (NASDAQ:ASST) stock got a notable vote of confidence on Friday when TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $26 price target. The call spotlights one of the more unconventional stories in asset management: a Bitcoin treasury company with an explicit anti-ESG identity, now publicly traded and making a case for shareholder primacy in an industry long dominated by ESG mandates.

Currently close to $10, Strive shares were trading near $9.64 heading into Friday’s session, meaning TD Cowen’s target represents a substantial gap between where the stock sits today and where the firm believes it can go.

The Analyst’s Case

TD Cowen’s initiation frames Strive as a differentiated player in asset management, one that explicitly rejects ESG-driven investing in favor of shareholder primacy. Co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, Strive has built its identity around the idea that corporations should focus on returns for shareholders rather than social or environmental agendas. That positioning has attracted a distinct investor base and sets Strive apart from legacy managers like BlackRock and Vanguard.

The firm’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) treasury strategy adds another layer of differentiation. Strive describes itself as the first publicly traded Bitcoin treasury asset management firm, using Bitcoin as its hurdle rate for measuring shareholder value creation.

Company Snapshot

Strive completed a reverse acquisition of Asset Entities Inc. on September 12, 2025, landing on the NASDAQ under the ticker ASST. Since then, it has moved aggressively to accumulate Bitcoin, holding 13,628 BTC as of March 17, funded in part by $762.6 million raised through PIPE financing and warrant exercises.

The company also completed an all-stock acquisition of Semler Scientific, adding approximately 5,048 BTC to its holdings. Its capital markets product, SATA Stock, is a Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock targeting double-digit yield. Strive CEO Matthew Cole has stated, “We see a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for digital credit to scale in the years to come.”

Why the Move Matters Now

TD Cowen’s initiation arrives as Strive is still in early innings as a public company. Management’s 2026 guidance targets the asset management business approaching breakeven, ranging from $0.01 net loss to $0.01 net income per diluted share. Meanwhile, the stock’s 52-week range spans $7.02 to $268.40, reflecting the volatility that comes with a Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet and a beta of 17.4.

What It Means for Your Portfolio

For retirement-focused investors, Strive stock is a high-conviction, high-volatility proposition. The anti-ESG angle and Bitcoin treasury model are genuinely novel, and TD Cowen’s $26 target signals real institutional interest in the thesis. That said, the stock’s extreme beta and GAAP net loss of $393.6 million in Q4 2025 driven largely by Bitcoin fair value swings demand careful position sizing.

If you believe Bitcoin accumulation and shareholder-primacy asset management represent durable competitive advantages, TD Cowen’s initiation warrants a closer look. If volatility keeps you up at night, Strive’s risk profile may not fit a conservative retirement allocation.