Market Signal Briefing

Solana holds a weekly gain of 5% as $76–$90 range defines potential short-term structure and bullish outlook.

Solana faces a decisive moment as price action tightens between stubborn resistance and firm support. The token trades at $85.95 as of press time after a 4.15% daily drop. 

However, it still holds a 5.05% gain over the past week. With $5.18 billion in daily volume and a $48.9 billion market cap, participation remains strong. Consequently, analysts believe the next move could define Solana’s short-term structure.

CryptoPulse highlights the $88 to $90 zone as a major ceiling on the 12-hour chart. Price recently rebounded from $76 support and quickly approached this barrier. 

However, bulls have not secured a decisive breakout above $90. Hence, failure at this level could trigger a rotation back toward $81 mid-range support. A deeper rejection may even revisit the $76 demand area.

Moreover, traders notice repeated hesitation near $90. That behavior signals active sellers defending the level. If buyers clear $90 with conviction, upside momentum could accelerate rapidly. Until then, the range remains intact and traders expect choppy conditions.

Micro Support Keeps Bulls EngagedMorecryptoonl focuses on the $83.50 level as critical micro support. This area aligns with the 50% retracement and sits near the 38.2% level around $85.45. 

As long as price holds above $83.50, analysts favor one more push toward $90 to $94. That move could complete a fifth wave advance in the current structure.

However, a direct drop into $83.50 would signal a deeper wave four pullback. Consequently, the risk of revisiting $78 or even $75.47 would increase. Traders therefore monitor intraday reactions around this pivot. Additionally, strong defense at this level would reinforce bullish confidence.

Higher Timeframe Hints at Bottom FormationSource: X

Satoshi Flipper shifts attention to the three-day chart. He identifies the $75 to $85 band as a major historical support. This zone previously acted as resistance in 2022 and support in early 2024. Significantly, price now retests this area after falling from $240 highs.

Descending trendline pressure converges into the same demand region. Meanwhile, sell candles shrink, suggesting fading bearish momentum. 

If $75 holds, analysts project a relief rally toward $120. Moreover, a sustained recovery could target $160 to $180 later. However, a clean break below $70 would weaken the bullish thesis and expose $55.

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Izabela Anna is a knowledgeable freelance journalist, who boasts over five years of experience covering the cryptocurrency market. Her tenure has seen her navigate through the ebbs and flows of multiple market cycles, giving her a deep understanding within. Her journalistic focus lies in dissecting price action dynamics, scrutinizing the on-chain landscape, and providing insights from a technical perspective, making her a trusted voice in the realm of cryptocurrency reporting.

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Contacts MBIA Inc.
Greg Diamond, 914-765-3190
Managing Director
Head of Investor and Media Relations
[email protected]

MBIA Inc.NYSE:MBI

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Contacts MBIA Inc.
Greg Diamond, 914-765-3190
Managing Director
Head of Investor and Media Relations
[email protected]

More News From MBIA Inc.

MBIA Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial ResultsPURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) today posted its third quarter 2025 financial results on its website at https://investor.mbia.com/investor-relations/financial-information/default.aspx. The financial results will also be furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a Current Report on Form 8-K available at sec.gov. As previously announced, the Company will host a webcast and conference call for investors on Wednesday, November 5 at 8:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss...

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LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced today that Jim Rechtin, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Celeste Mellet, Chief Financial Officer, will make a presentation to investors at the Leerink Partners Global Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 10:40 a.m. Eastern time.

A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available via Humana’s Investor Relations page at https://humana.gcs-web.com/. The company suggests webcast participants sign on approximately 15 minutes in advance of the presentation to allow time to run a system test and download any free software needed for access purposes.

About Humana

Humana (NYSE:HUM) is a leading U.S. healthcare company. Through our Humana insurance services and our CenterWell healthcare services, we make it easier for the millions of people we serve to achieve their best health – delivering the care and service they need, when they need it. These efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare and Medicaid, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large. Learn more about what we offer at Humana.com and at CenterWell.com.

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STAMFORD, Conn. & CARPINTERIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI), the world’s largest equipment rental company, and Procore Technologies (NYSE: PCOR), the leading global provider of construction management software, today announced a new strategic partnership and their first telematics integration. The integration enables shared customers to seamlessly bring United Rentals rental equipment data directly into the Procore Resource Management solution, expanding visibility and simplifying equipment management across jobsites.

The integration is part of United Rentals’ broader innovation strategy to provide customers with actionable information. By creating open integrations across the construction ecosystem, United Rentals aims to provide AI-driven insights that enhance productivity, safety and asset efficiency for customers.

“Access to accurate, real-time equipment data is essential for running efficient and productive jobsites,” said Tony Leopold, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer at United Rentals. “By integrating United Rentals telematics data into Procore, we’re extending visibility into rental equipment within a platform many of our customers already use every day. This helps them better plan, track, and manage equipment across their projects."

Together, United Rentals and Procore aim to bridge the industry’s “resource gap,” the disconnect between office planning and jobsite execution. By integrating telematics into Procore’s Resource Management solution, customers gain a unified view of equipment, labor and materials to streamline planning, tracking and forecasting. The integration supports AI-driven recommendations to optimize resource deployment, helping customers maximize productivity and asset utilization across projects.

How the Integration Works

By connecting their United Rentals account directly within the Resource Management solution, customers can automatically sync rented equipment records and available telematics into their existing workflows. This centralized view allows teams to manage owned and rented equipment side-by-side, providing the operational awareness needed to support more proactive equipment planning across jobsites.

“The biggest killer of productivity isn’t a lack of effort, it is the lack of visibility,” said Steve Davis, President of Product & Technology at Procore. “By integrating United Rentals telematics directly into Procore Resource Management, we’re providing total orchestration for both owned and rented fleets in one place. This unified view will enable contractors to maximize field productivity and deliver stronger project outcomes.”

The United Rentals telematics integration is now available to mutual customers through the Procore Resource Management solution.

Visit the United Rentals Integration page on Procore App Marketplace for more information.

About Procore

Procore Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: PCOR) is a leading technology partner for every stage of construction. Built for the industry, Procore’s unified technology platform drives efficiency and mitigates risk through AI & data-driven insights and decision making. Over three million projects have run on Procore across 150+ countries. For more information, visit www.procore.com.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company has an integrated network of 1,663 rental locations in North America, 41 in Europe, 45 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 28,500 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers a fleet of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $22.48 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index® and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.

More News From United Rentals Inc.

LEXINGTON, Mass., Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: RPID) (the “Company”), an innovative life sciences technology company providing mission critical automation solutions to facilitate the efficient manufacturing and fast, safe release of healthcare products, today announced that the Company will present at the TD Cowen 46th Annual Health Care Conference in Boston, MA.

The Company is scheduled to present on Tuesday, March 3 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. A live webcast of the presentation will be available on the Rapid Micro Biosystems investor relations website at https://investors.rapidmicrobio.com/ and can be accessed here. The webcast will be archived and available for replay after the event.

About Rapid Micro Biosystems

Rapid Micro Biosystems is an innovative life sciences technology company providing mission critical automation solutions to facilitate the efficient manufacturing and fast, safe release of healthcare products such as biologics, vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and sterile injectables. The Company’s flagship Growth Direct system automates and modernizes the antiquated, manual microbial quality control (“MQC”) testing workflows used in the largest and most complex pharmaceutical manufacturing operations across the globe. The Growth Direct system brings the quality control lab to the manufacturing floor, unlocking the power of MQC automation to deliver the faster results, greater accuracy, increased operational efficiency, better compliance with data integrity regulations, and quicker decision making that customers rely on to ensure safe and consistent supply of important healthcare products. The Company is headquartered Lexington, Massachusetts and has U.S. manufacturing in Lowell, Massachusetts, with global locations in Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.rapidmicrobio.com or follow the Company on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @rapidmicrobio or on LinkedIn. 

February 26, 2026 16:15 ET  | Source: Royalty Pharma plc

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) today announced that it will participate in a fireside chat at TD Cowen’s 46th Annual Health Care Conference on March 3, 2026 at 1:10 p.m. ET.

The webcast will be accessible from Royalty Pharma’s “Events” page at https://www.royaltypharma.com/investors/events/. The webcast will also be archived for a minimum of thirty days.

About Royalty Pharma

Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and non-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has assembled a portfolio of royalties which entitles it to payments based directly on the top-line sales of many of the industry’s leading therapies. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry both directly and indirectly – directly when it partners with companies to co fund late-stage clinical trials and new product launches in exchange for future royalties, and indirectly when it acquires existing royalties from the original innovators. Royalty Pharma’s current portfolio includes royalties on more than 35 commercial products, including Vertex’s Trikafta and Alyftrek, GSK’s Trelegy, Roche’s Evrysdi, Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya, Biogen’s Tysabri and Spinraza, Servier’s Voranigo, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica, Astellas and Pfizer’s Xtandi, Pfizer’s Nurtec ODT, and Gilead’s Trodelvy, and 20 development-stage product candidates. For more information, visit www.royaltypharma.com.

Royalty Pharma Investor Relations and Communications

+1 (212) 883-6637
[email protected]

Fourth Quarter 2025 Net Investment Income of $1.03 Per Share

Fourth Quarter 2025 Distributable Net Investment Income(1) of $1.09 Per Share

Net Asset Value of $33.33 Per Share

, /PRNewswire/ -- Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE: MAIN) ("Main Street") is pleased to announce its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. Unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise indicates, the terms "we," "us," "our" and the "Company" refer to Main Street and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Highlights

Net investment income ("NII") of $92.1 million, or $1.03 per share Distributable net investment income ("DNII")(1) of $98.0 million, or $1.09 per share DNII before taxes(2) of $100.0 million, or $1.11 per share Total investment income of $145.5 million An industry leading position in cost efficiency, with a ratio of total non-interest operating expenses as a percentage of quarterly average total assets ("Operating Expenses to Assets Ratio") of 1.4% on an annualized basis Net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $131.1 million, or $1.46 per share Return on equity(3) of 17.7% on an annualized basis Net asset value of $33.33 per share as of December 31, 2025, representing an increase of $0.55 per share, or 1.7%, compared to $32.78 per share as of September 30, 2025 Declared regular monthly dividends totaling $0.78 per share for the first quarter of 2026, or $0.26 per share for each of January, February and March 2026, representing a 4.0% increase from the regular monthly dividends paid in the first quarter of 2025 and a 2.0% increase from the regular monthly dividends paid in the fourth quarter of 2025 Declared and paid a supplemental dividend of $0.30 per share, resulting in total dividends paid in the fourth quarter of 2025 of $1.065 per share and representing a 2.9% increase from the total dividends paid in the fourth quarter of 2024 Completed $300.0 million in total lower middle market ("LMM") portfolio investments, including investments totaling $241.0 million in five new portfolio companies, which after aggregate repayments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $253.1 million in the total cost basis of the LMM investment portfolio Completed $231.4 million in total private loan portfolio investments, which after aggregate repayments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to a realized loss resulted in a net increase of $108.8 million in the total cost basis of the private loan investment portfolio Fully exited investments in Purge Rite LLC, realizing a gain of $33.9 million and resulting in annual internal rates of return ("IRR") and times money invested ("TMI") returns of 179.9% and 9.4 times, respectively, on the equity investment, and 98.2% and 3.3 times, respectively, including all debt and equity investments in the company on a cumulative basis since Main Street's initial investment in 2023 Fully exited investments in Mystic Logistics Holdings, LLC, realizing a gain of $23.8 million, which in addition to the total dividends of $22.1 million received over the life of the equity investment, resulted in annual IRRs and TMI returns of 32.9% and 17.9 times, respectively, on the equity investment, and 22.9% and 5.1 times, respectively, including all debt and equity investments in the company on a cumulative basis since Main Street's initial investment in 2014 Full Year 2025 Highlights

NII, including excise tax and NII related income taxes, of $352.7 million, or $3.95 per share DNII,(1) including excise tax and NII related income taxes, of $376.0 million, or $4.21 per share DNII before taxes(2) of $390.0 million, or $4.36 per share Total investment income of $566.4 million An industry leading position in cost efficiency, with an Operating Expenses to Assets Ratio of 1.3% Net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $493.4 million, or $5.52 per share Return on equity(3) of 17.1% Net asset value of $33.33 per share as of December 31, 2025, representing an increase of $1.68 per share, or 5.3%, compared to $31.65 per share as of December 31, 2024 Paid regular monthly dividends totaling $3.03 per share, representing a 4.1% increase from prior year Paid supplemental dividends totaling $1.20 per share, resulting in total dividends paid of $4.23 per share, representing a 2.9% increase from prior year and a new record for total annual dividends paid Completed $701.6 million in total LMM portfolio investments, including investments totaling $482.2 million in 13 new portfolio companies, which after aggregate repayments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $480.1 million in the total cost basis of the LMM investment portfolio Completed $671.5 million in total private loan portfolio investments, which after aggregate repayments and sales of debt investments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $30.8 million in the total cost basis of the private loan investment portfolio Net decrease of $76.4 million in the total cost basis of the middle market investment portfolio Further strengthened our capital structure and enhanced our liquidity position by (i) amending the SPV Facility to decrease the interest rate, extend the final maturity date to September 2030 and decrease the unused fee, (ii) amending the Corporate Facility to decrease the interest rate, increase the total commitments to $1.145 billion and extend the maturity date to April 2030, (iii) issuing an aggregate principal amount of $350.0 million of the August 2028 Notes and (iv) fully prepaying $150.0 million of notes outstanding in September 2025 ahead of their December 2025 maturity date (the "December 2025 Notes," with the SPV Facility, Corporate Facility and August 2028 Notes each defined in the Liquidity and Capital Resources section below) MSC Income Fund, Inc., an externally managed business development company for which Main Street's wholly owned registered investment adviser serves as investment advisor and administrator, completed a follow-on public offering of its common stock and, in conjunction with the offering, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2025 In commenting on the Company's operating results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025, Dwayne L. Hyzak, Main Street's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are extremely pleased with our continued strong performance in the fourth quarter, which closed another great year for Main Street. This strong performance included several new quarterly and annual records across our key performance metrics. After our positive performance in the first three quarters of 2025, our strong performance in the fourth quarter resulted in a return on equity of 17.7% for the fourth quarter and 17.1% for the full year, strong levels of net investment income per share and distributable net investment income per share and a record net asset value per share, primarily driven by a significant net fair value increase of our investments, and including the benefits of material net realized gains in both our lower middle market and private loan investment portfolios. We also produced extremely strong fourth quarter investment activity in our unique lower middle market investment strategy, resulting in an annual record for gross investments of over $700 million in 2025. We believe that these continued strong results demonstrate the sustainable strength of our overall platform, the benefits of our differentiated and diversified investment strategies, the unique contributions of our asset management business and the continued underlying strength and quality of our portfolio companies."

Mr. Hyzak continued, "Our positive performance for the quarter and full year resulted in distributable net investment income before taxes per share which continued to significantly exceed the monthly dividends paid to our shareholders for these periods. In addition, our strong fourth quarter results and favorable outlook for the first quarter resulted in the declaration of another $0.30 per share supplemental dividend to be paid in March 2026, representing our eighteenth consecutive quarterly supplemental dividend, to go with the 11 increases to our regular monthly dividends declared since the fourth quarter of 2021. Our recent declarations of our monthly dividends and our supplemental dividend allowed us to continue our trend of increasing the total dividends paid to our shareholders over the past several years. Additionally, with the continued support from our long-term lender relationships, we continue to maintain strong liquidity and a conservative leverage profile, which we believe is important in the current economic environment. We remain confident that our diversified lower middle market and private loan investment strategies, both of which have continued to generate favorable investment activity in the first quarter, together with the benefits of our asset management business, our cost efficient operating structure and conservative capital structure, will allow us to continue to deliver superior results for our shareholders."

Fourth Quarter 2025 Operating Results

The following table provides a summary of our operating results for the fourth quarter of 2025:

Three Months Ended December 31,

2025

2024

Change ($)

Change (%)

(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

Interest income

$         102,759

$         109,963

$             (7,204)

(7) %

Dividend income

35,898

24,513

11,385

46 %

Fee income

6,884

5,966

918

15 %

Total investment income

$         145,541

$         140,442

$              5,099

4 %

Net investment income (4)

$           92,100

$           86,690

$              5,410

6 %

Net investment income per share (4)

$               1.03

$               0.98

$                0.05

5 %

Distributable net investment income (1)(4)

$           98,030

$           91,672

$              6,358

7 %

Distributable net investment income per share (1)(4)

$               1.09

$               1.04

$                0.05

5 %

Distributable net investment income before taxes (2)

$         100,012

$           95,338

$              4,674

5 %

Distributable net investment income before taxes per share (2)

$               1.11

$               1.08

$                0.03

3 %

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

$          131,111

$         174,237

$          (43,126)

(25) %

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations per share

$               1.46

$               1.97

$              (0.51)

(26) %

The $5.1 million increase in total investment income in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year was principally attributable to (i) an $11.4 million increase in dividend income, primarily due to a $10.9 million increase in dividend income from our LMM portfolio companies and (ii) a $0.9 million increase in fee income, primarily due to a $1.6 million increase in fee income related to increased investment activity, partially offset by a $0.7 million decrease in fee income from the refinancing and prepayment of debt investments. These increases were partially offset by a $7.2 million decrease in interest income, principally attributable to a larger negative impact from investments on non-accrual status and a decrease in interest rates, primarily resulting from decreases in benchmark index rates on floating rate debt investments and other decreases in interest rates on existing debt investments, partially offset by higher average levels of income producing investment portfolio debt investments. The $5.1 million increase in total investment income in the fourth quarter of 2025 includes the impact of an increase of $3.9 million in certain income considered less consistent or non-recurring, primarily related to an increase of $4.5 million in such dividend income, partially offset by a $0.7 million decrease in such fee income, in each case when compared to the same period in 2024.

Total cash expenses(5) increased $0.4 million, or 0.9%, to $45.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 from $45.1 million for the same period in 2024. This increase in total cash expenses was principally attributable to (i) a $2.3 million increase in cash compensation expenses(5) and (ii) a $0.6 million increase in general and administrative expenses, partially offset by (i) a $2.2 million decrease in interest expense and (ii) a $0.3 million increase in expenses allocated to our External Investment Manager (as defined in the External Investment Manager section below). The increase in cash compensation expenses(5) is primarily related to increased incentive compensation accruals. The increase in general and administrative expenses is primarily related to increased professional fees. The decrease in interest expense is primarily related to (i) a decreased weighted-average interest rate on our unsecured debt obligations resulting from the issuance of the August 2028 Notes and the early repayment of the December 2025 Notes and (ii) a decreased weighted-average interest rate on our Credit Facilities due to decreases in benchmark index rates and decreases to the applicable margin rates related to the amendments of our Credit Facilities in April 2025.

Non-cash compensation expenses(5) increased $0.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year, primarily driven by an $0.8 million increase in share-based compensation.

Our Operating Expenses to Assets Ratio (which includes non-cash compensation expenses(5)) on an annualized basis was 1.4% for the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase from 1.3% for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Excise tax expense decreased $3.1 million and NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses increased $1.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, resulting in a net decrease in tax expenses included in NII of $1.7 million. The decrease in excise tax is due to the decrease in undistributed taxable income as of December 31, 2025 and the increase in NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses is due to an increase in taxable NII between the relevant periods.

The $5.4 million increase in NII and the $6.4 million increase in DNII(1) in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year were both principally attributable to (i) the increase in total investment income and (ii) the decrease in tax expenses included in NII, partially offset by an increase in total expenses, each as discussed above. NII and DNII(1) on a per share basis both increased by $0.05 for the fourth quarter of 2025 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, to $1.03 per share and $1.09 per share, respectively. These increases include the impact of a 1.6% increase in the weighted-average shares outstanding compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily due to shares issued since the beginning of the comparable period of the prior year through our (i) dividend reinvestment plan, (ii) at-the-market ("ATM") equity issuance program and (iii) equity incentive plans. NII and DNII(1) on a per share basis in the fourth quarter of 2025 each include a net increase of $0.04 per share resulting from an increase in investment income considered less consistent or non-recurring in nature compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, as discussed above.

The $131.1 million net increase in net assets resulting from operations in the fourth quarter of 2025 represents a $43.1 million decrease from the fourth quarter of 2024. This decrease was primarily the result of (i) a $38.3 million decrease in the net fair value change of our portfolio investments resulting from the net impact of net realized gains/losses and net unrealized appreciation/depreciation, with the decrease resulting from a net fair value increase of $42.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to a net fair value increase of $80.8 million in the prior year and (ii) a $10.2 million increase in net tax provision on the net fair value change of our portfolio investments resulting from a net tax provision of $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to a net tax benefit of $6.8 million in the comparable period of the prior year, with these decreases partially offset by a $5.4 million increase in NII as discussed above. The $42.5 million net fair value increase in the fourth quarter of 2025 was the result of a net realized gain of $50.8 million, partially offset by unrealized depreciation (including the reversal of net fair value appreciation recognized in prior periods due to the net realized gain in the quarter) of $8.3 million. The $80.8 million net fair value increase in the fourth quarter of 2024 was the result of a net realized gain of $28.6 million and net unrealized appreciation of $52.2 million. The $50.8 million net realized gain from investments for the fourth quarter of 2025 was primarily the result of (i) $42.0 million of realized gains on the full exits of two private loan portfolio investments, (ii) a $23.8 million realized gain on the full exit of a LMM portfolio investment, (iii) a $1.4 million realized gain on the partial exit of a LMM portfolio investment and (iv) a $1.1 million realized gain on the partial exit of an other portfolio investment, partially offset by (i) a $17.8 million realized loss on the restructure of a private loan portfolio investment and (ii) a $0.6 million realized loss on the partial exit of a LMM portfolio investment.

The following table provides a summary of the total net unrealized depreciation of $8.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2025:

Three Months Ended December 31, 2025

LMM (a)

Private Loan

Middle Market

Other

Total

(in millions)

Accounting reversals of net unrealized (appreciation) depreciation recognized in prior periods due to net realized (gains / income) losses recognized during the current period

$     (25.4)

$     (25.1)

$          —

$       (1.5)

$     (52.0)

Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) relating to portfolio investments

48.4

11.0

(6.8)

(8.9)

(b)

43.7

Total net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) relating to portfolio investments

$       23.0

$     (14.1)

$       (6.8)

$     (10.4)

$       (8.3)

___________________________

(a)

Includes unrealized appreciation on 43 LMM portfolio investments and unrealized depreciation on 21 LMM portfolio investments.

(b)

Includes $11.3 million of unrealized depreciation related to the External Investment Manager.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2025, we had aggregate liquidity of $1.265 billion, including (i) $42.0 million in cash and cash equivalents and (ii) $1.223 billion of aggregate unused capacity under our corporate revolving credit facility (the "Corporate Facility") and our special purpose vehicle revolving credit facility (the "SPV Facility" and, together with the Corporate Facility, the "Credit Facilities"), which we maintain to support our investment and operating activities.

Several details regarding our capital structure as of December 31, 2025 are as follows:

The Corporate Facility included $1.145 billion in total commitments from a diversified group of 18 participating lenders, plus an accordion feature that allows us to request an increase in the total commitments under the facility to up to $1.718 billion. $432.0 million in outstanding borrowings under the Corporate Facility, with an interest rate of 5.6% based on the applicable Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") effective for the contractual reset date of January 1, 2026. The SPV Facility included $600.0 million in total commitments from a diversified group of six participating lenders, plus an accordion feature that allows us to request an increase in the total commitments under the facility to up to $800.0 million. $86.0 million in outstanding borrowings under the SPV Facility, with an interest rate of 5.6% based on the applicable SOFR effective for the contractual reset date of January 1, 2026. $500.0 million of unsecured notes outstanding that bear interest at a rate of 3.00% per year (the "July 2026 Notes"). The July 2026 Notes mature on July 14, 2026 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time at our option subject to certain make-whole provisions. $400.0 million of unsecured notes outstanding that bear interest at a rate of 6.50% per year with a yield-to-maturity of approximately 6.34% (the "June 2027 Notes"). The June 2027 Notes mature on June 4, 2027 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time at our option subject to certain make-whole provisions. $350.0 million of unsecured notes outstanding that bear interest at a rate of 5.40% per year (the "August 2028 Notes"). The August 2028 Notes mature on August 15, 2028 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time at our option subject to certain make-whole provisions. $350.0 million of unsecured notes outstanding that bear interest at a rate of 6.95% per year (the "March 2029 Notes"). The March 2029 Notes mature on March 1, 2029 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time at our option subject to certain make-whole provisions. $350.0 million of outstanding Small Business Investment Company ("SBIC") debentures through our wholly-owned SBIC subsidiaries. These debentures, which are guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (the "SBA"), had a weighted-average annual fixed interest rate of 3.26% and mature ten years from original issuance. The first maturity related to our existing SBIC debentures occurs in the first quarter of 2027, and the weighted-average remaining duration was 4.6 years. We maintain investment grade credit ratings from each of Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, both of which have assigned us investment grade credit ratings of BBB- with a stable outlook. Our net asset value totaled $3.0 billion, or $33.33 per share. In February 2026, we expanded the total commitments under our Corporate Facility by $30.0 million to $1.175 billion. The increase in total commitments was the result of the addition of a new lender relationship, which further diversifies our lender group.

Investment Portfolio Information as of December 31, 2025(6)

The following table provides a summary of the investments in our LMM portfolio and private loan portfolio as of December 31, 2025:

December 31, 2025

LMM (a)

Private Loan

(dollars in millions)

Number of portfolio companies

92

86

Fair value

$               3,057.0

$               1,988.4

Cost

$               2,419.3

$               2,014.1

Debt investments as a % of portfolio (at cost)

71.2 %

93.5 %

Equity investments as a % of portfolio (at cost)

28.8 %

6.5 %

% of debt investments at cost secured by first priority lien

99.4 %

99.9 %

Weighted-average annual effective yield (b)

12.5 %

10.5 %

Average EBITDA (c)

$                    11.1

$                    33.9

___________________________

(a)

We had equity ownership in all of our LMM portfolio companies, and our average fully diluted equity ownership in those portfolio companies was 37%.

(b)

The weighted-average annual effective yields were computed using the effective interest rates for all debt investments as of December 31, 2025, including amortization of deferred debt origination fees and accretion of original issue discount but excluding fees payable upon repayment of the debt investments and any debt investments on non-accrual status, and are weighted based upon the principal amount of each applicable debt investment as of December 31, 2025.

(c)

The average EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is calculated using a simple average for LMM portfolio companies and a weighted-average for private loan portfolio companies. These calculations exclude certain portfolio companies, including five LMM portfolio companies and six private loan portfolio companies, as EBITDA is not a meaningful valuation metric for our investments in these portfolio companies, and those portfolio companies whose primary purpose is to own real estate and those portfolio companies whose primary operations have ceased and only residual value remains.

The fair value of our LMM portfolio company equity investments was 199% of the related cost basis of such equity investments, and our LMM portfolio companies had a median net senior debt (senior interest-bearing debt through our debt position less cash and cash equivalents) to EBITDA ratio of 2.4 to 1.0 and a median total EBITDA to senior interest expense ratio of 3.0 to 1.0. Including all debt that is junior in priority to our debt position, these median ratios were 2.5 to 1.0 and 2.9 to 1.0, respectively.(6)(7)

As of December 31, 2025, our investment portfolio also included:

Other portfolio investments in 33 entities, spread across 13 investment managers, collectively totaling $134.1 million in fair value and $141.6 million in cost basis, which comprised 2.4% and 3.0% of our investment portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively; Middle market portfolio investments in 11 portfolio companies, collectively totaling $83.5 million in fair value and $120.1 million in cost basis, which comprised 1.5% and 2.5% of our investment portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively; and Our investment in the External Investment Manager, with a fair value of $255.0 million and a cost basis of $29.5 million, which comprised 4.6% and 0.6% of our investment portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, investments on non-accrual status comprised 1.0% of the total investment portfolio at fair value and 3.3% at cost, and our total portfolio investments at fair value were 117% of the related cost basis.

External Investment Manager

MSC Adviser I, LLC is our wholly-owned portfolio company and registered investment adviser that provides investment management services to external parties (the "External Investment Manager"). We share employees with the External Investment Manager and allocate costs related to such shared employees and other operating expenses to the External Investment Manager. The total contribution of the External Investment Manager to our NII consists of the combination of the expenses we allocate to the External Investment Manager and the dividend income we earn from the External Investment Manager. During the fourth quarter of 2025, the External Investment Manager earned $10.2 million of total fee income, an increase of $0.5 million from the fourth quarter of 2024. The fee income earned by the External Investment Manager in the fourth quarter of 2025 included (i) $5.8 million of management fee income, a decrease of $0.3 million from the fourth quarter of 2024, and (ii) incentive fees of $4.2 million, an increase of $0.9 million from the fourth quarter of 2024. We allocated $6.6 million of total expenses to the External Investment Manager during the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of $0.3 million from the fourth quarter of 2024. The decrease in management fee income was primarily attributable to a decrease in the base management fees earned resulting from changes in the advisory agreement between the External Investment Manager and its client, MSC Income Fund, Inc., in conjunction with the listing of MSC Income Fund, Inc.'s shares on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2025, partially offset by an increase in total assets managed for clients. The increase in incentive fees was attributable to the favorable performance and improved operating results from the assets managed for clients in the fourth quarter of 2025 relative to the fourth quarter of 2024. The combination of the dividend income we earned from the External Investment Manager and expenses we allocated to it resulted in a total contribution to our NII of $9.3 million, representing an increase of $0.5 million from the fourth quarter of 2024.

The External Investment Manager ended the fourth quarter of 2025 with total assets under management of $1.7 billion.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call / Webcast

Main Street has scheduled a conference call for Friday, February 27, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results.(8)

You may access the conference call by dialing 412-902-0030 at least 10 minutes prior to the start time. The conference call can also be accessed via a simultaneous webcast by logging into the investor relations section of the Main Street website at https://www.mainstcapital.com.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through Friday, March 6, 2026 and may be accessed by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the passcode 13757959#. An audio archive of the conference call will also be available on the investor relations section of the Company's website at https://www.mainstcapital.com shortly after the call and will be accessible until the date of Main Street's earnings release for the next quarter.

For a more detailed discussion of the financial and other information included in this press release, please refer to the Main Street Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") (www.sec.gov) and Main Street's Fourth Quarter 2025 Investor Presentation to be posted on the investor relations section of the Main Street website at https://www.mainstcapital.com.

ABOUT MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION

Main Street (www.mainstcapital.com) is a principal investment firm that primarily provides customized long-term debt and equity capital solutions to lower middle market companies and debt capital to private companies owned by or in the process of being acquired by a private equity fund. Main Street's portfolio investments are typically made to support management buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings, refinancings and acquisitions of companies that operate in diverse industry sectors. Main Street seeks to partner with entrepreneurs, business owners and management teams and generally provides customized "one-stop" debt and equity financing solutions within its lower middle market investment strategy. Main Street seeks to partner with private equity fund sponsors and primarily invests in secured debt investments in its private loan investment strategy. Main Street's lower middle market portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million. Main Street's private loan portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $25 million and $500 million.

Main Street, through its wholly-owned portfolio company MSC Adviser I, LLC ("MSC Adviser"), also maintains an asset management business through which it manages investments for external parties. MSC Adviser is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Main Street cautions that statements in this press release which are forward-looking and provide other than historical information, including but not limited to Main Street's ability to successfully source and execute on new portfolio investments and deliver future financial performance and results, are based on current conditions and information available to Main Street as of the date hereof and include statements regarding Main Street's goals, beliefs, strategies and future operating results and cash flows. Although its management believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, Main Street can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to be correct. Those forward-looking statements are made based on various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including, without limitation: Main Street's continued effectiveness in raising, investing and managing capital; adverse changes in the economy generally or in the industries in which Main Street's portfolio companies operate; the impacts of macroeconomic factors on Main Street and its portfolio companies' businesses and operations, liquidity and access to capital, and on the U.S. and global economies, including impacts related to pandemics and other public health crises, global conflicts, risk of recession, tariffs and trade disputes, inflation, supply chain constraints or disruptions and changes in market index interest rates; changes in laws and regulations or business, political and/or regulatory conditions that may adversely impact Main Street's operations or the operations of its portfolio companies; the operating and financial performance of Main Street's portfolio companies and their access to capital; retention of key investment personnel; competitive factors; and such other factors described under the captions "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" included in Main Street's filings with the SEC (www.sec.gov). Main Street undertakes no obligation to update the information contained herein to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances, except as required by applicable securities laws and regulations.

MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except shares and per share amounts)

Three Months Ended
December 31,

Year Ended
December 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

INVESTMENT INCOME:

Interest, dividend and fee income:

Control investments

$         69,459

$         52,795

$       245,940

$       205,367

Affiliate investments

24,169

22,555

96,077

84,367

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

51,913

65,092

224,374

251,292

Total investment income

145,541

140,442

566,391

541,026

EXPENSES:

Interest

(31,839)

(34,018)

(127,998)

(123,429)

Compensation

(14,674)

(12,261)

(52,044)

(47,486)

General and administrative

(5,768)

(5,188)

(21,701)

(19,347)

Share–based compensation

(5,749)

(4,939)

(21,440)

(18,793)

Expenses allocated to the External Investment Manager

6,571

6,320

23,533

23,088

Total expenses

(51,459)

(50,086)

(199,650)

(185,967)

NET INVESTMENT INCOME BEFORE TAXES

94,082

90,356

366,741

355,059

Excise tax expense

(1,054)

(4,199)

(4,051)

(5,851)

Federal and state income and other tax benefits (expenses)

(928)

533

(9,972)

(7,807)

NET INVESTMENT INCOME (4)

92,100

86,690

352,718

341,401

NET REALIZED GAIN (LOSS):

Control investments

32,638

37,274

19,674

36,922

Affiliate investments

418

(5,005)

58,127

(4,219)

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

17,752

(3,700)

(23,222)

13,295

Total net realized gain

50,808

28,569

54,579

45,998

NET UNREALIZED APPRECIATION (DEPRECIATION):

Control investments

(10,728)

29,860

46,288

117,867

Affiliate investments

4,635

24,690

9,153

47,299

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

(2,245)

(2,324)

43,438

(27,510)

Total net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

(8,338)

52,226

98,879

137,656

Income tax benefit (provision) on net realized gain and net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

(3,459)

6,752

(12,778)

(16,975)

NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS

$       131,111

$       174,237

$       493,398

$       508,080

NET INVESTMENT INCOME PER SHARE—BASIC AND DILUTED (4)

$              1.03

$              0.98

$              3.95

$              3.93

NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS PER SHARE—BASIC AND DILUTED

$              1.46

$              1.97

$              5.52

$              5.85

WEIGHTED-AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING—BASIC AND DILUTED

89,840,122

88,406,094

89,363,140

86,805,755

MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

December 31,

December 31,

2025

2024

ASSETS

Investments at fair value:

Control investments

$        2,569,626

$        2,087,890

Affiliate investments

965,179

846,798

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

1,983,312

1,997,981

Total investments

5,518,117

4,932,669

Cash and cash equivalents

41,959

78,251

Interest and dividend receivable and other assets

107,905

98,084

Deferred financing costs, net

13,720

12,337

Total assets

$        5,681,701

$        5,121,341

LIABILITIES

Credit Facilities

$           518,000

$           384,000

July 2026 Notes (par: $500,000 as of both December 31, 2025 and 2024)

499,715

499,188

June 2027 Notes (par: $400,000 as of both December 31, 2025 and 2024)

399,569

399,282

August 2028 Notes (par: $350,000 as of December 31, 2025)

347,996

—

March 2029 Notes (par: $350,000 as of both December 31, 2025 and 2024)

347,721

347,002

SBIC debentures (par: $350,000 as of both December 31, 2025 and 2024)

344,593

343,417

December 2025 Notes (par: $150,000 as of December 31, 2024)

—

149,482

Accounts payable and other liabilities

67,799

69,631

Interest payable

30,094

23,290

Dividend payable

23,358

22,100

Deferred tax liability, net

108,963

86,111

Total liabilities

2,687,808

2,323,503

NET ASSETS

Common stock

898

884

Additional paid–in capital

2,457,660

2,394,492

Total undistributed earnings

535,335

402,462

Total net assets

2,993,893

2,797,838

Total liabilities and net assets

$        5,681,701

$        5,121,341

NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE

$                33.33

$                31.65

MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION

Reconciliation of Distributable Net Investment Income, Distributable Net Investment Income Before Taxes,

Total Non-Cash Compensation Expenses, Total Cash Expenses

and Total Cash Compensation Expenses

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Three Months Ended

Year Ended

December 31,

December 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

Net investment income (4)

$         92,100

$         86,690

$       352,718

$       341,401

Non-cash compensation expenses (5)

5,930

4,982

23,280

19,910

Distributable net investment income (1)(4)

$         98,030

$         91,672

$       375,998

$       361,311

Excise tax expense

1,054

4,199

4,051

5,851

Federal and state income and other tax expenses (benefits)

928

(533)

9,972

7,807

Distributable net investment income before taxes (2)

$       100,012

$         95,338

$       390,021

$       374,969

Per share amounts:

Net investment income per share -

Basic and diluted (4)

$              1.03

$              0.98

$              3.95

$              3.93

Distributable net investment income per share -

Basic and diluted (1)(4)

$              1.09

$              1.04

$              4.21

$              4.16

Distributable net investment income before taxes per share -

Basic and diluted (2)

$              1.11

$              1.08

$              4.36

$              4.32

Three Months Ended

Year Ended

December 31,

December 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

Share–based compensation

$         (5,749)

$         (4,939)

$       (21,440)

$       (18,793)

Deferred compensation expense

(181)

(43)

(1,840)

(1,117)

Total non-cash compensation expenses (5)

(5,930)

(4,982)

(23,280)

(19,910)

Total expenses

(51,459)

(50,086)

(199,650)

(185,967)

Less non-cash compensation expenses (5)

5,930

4,982

23,280

19,910

Total cash expenses (5)

$       (45,529)

$       (45,104)

$     (176,370)

$     (166,057)

Compensation

$       (14,674)

$       (12,261)

$       (52,044)

$       (47,486)

Share-based compensation

(5,749)

(4,939)

(21,440)

(18,793)

Total compensation expenses

(20,423)

(17,200)

(73,484)

(66,279)

Non-cash compensation expenses (5)

5,930

4,982

23,280

19,910

Total cash compensation expenses (5)

$       (14,493)

$       (12,218)

$       (50,204)

$       (46,369)

MAIN STREET CAPITAL CORPORATION
Endnotes

(1)

DNII is NII as determined in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP, excluding the impact of non-cash compensation expenses.(5) Main Street believes presenting DNII and the related per share amount is useful and appropriate supplemental disclosure for analyzing its financial performance since non-cash compensation expenses(5) do not result in a net cash impact to Main Street upon settlement. However, DNII is a non-U.S. GAAP measure and should not be considered as a replacement for NII or other earnings measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should be reviewed only in connection with such U.S. GAAP measures in analyzing Main Street's financial performance. A reconciliation of NII in accordance with U.S. GAAP to DNII is detailed in the financial tables included with this press release.

(2)

DNII before taxes is NII as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding the impact of non-cash compensation expenses(5) and any tax expenses included in NII. Main Street believes presenting DNII before taxes and the related per share amount is useful and appropriate supplemental disclosure for analyzing its financial performance since (i) non-cash compensation expenses(5) do not result in a net cash impact to Main Street upon settlement and (ii) tax expenses included in NII may include (a) excise tax expense, which is not solely attributable to NII, and (b) deferred taxes, which are not payable in the current period. However, DNII before taxes is a non-U.S. GAAP measure and should not be considered as a replacement for NII, NII before taxes or other earnings measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should be reviewed only in connection with such U.S. GAAP measures in analyzing Main Street's financial performance. A reconciliation of NII in accordance with U.S. GAAP to DNII before taxes is detailed in the financial tables included with this press release.

(3)

Return on equity equals the net increase in net assets resulting from operations divided by the average quarterly total net assets.

(4)

NII and DNII for each period in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 necessary to present the amount for the year ended December 31, 2025 have been revised to include the impact of excise tax and NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses previously included within the total income tax provision. This correction was determined to be immaterial to any impacted prior periods and had no impact on net increases in net assets resulting from operations or the related per share amounts.

(5)

Non-cash compensation expenses consist of (i) share-based compensation and (ii) deferred compensation expense or benefit, both of which are non-cash in nature. Share-based compensation does not require settlement in cash. Deferred compensation expense or benefit does not result in a net cash impact to Main Street upon settlement. The appreciation (depreciation) in the fair value of deferred compensation plan assets is reflected in Main Street's Consolidated Statements of Operations as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) and an increase (decrease) in compensation expenses, respectively. Cash compensation expenses are total compensation expenses as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, less non-cash compensation expenses. Total cash expenses are total expenses, as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding non-cash compensation expenses. Main Street believes presenting cash compensation expenses, non-cash compensation expenses and total cash expenses is useful and appropriate supplemental disclosure for analyzing its financial performance since non-cash compensation expenses do not result in a net cash impact to Main Street upon settlement. However, cash compensation expenses, non-cash compensation expenses and total cash expenses are non-U.S. GAAP measures and should not be considered as a replacement for compensation expenses, total expenses or other earnings measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should be reviewed only in connection with such U.S. GAAP measures in analyzing Main Street's financial performance. A reconciliation of compensation expenses and total expenses in accordance with U.S. GAAP to cash compensation expenses, non-cash compensation expenses and total cash expenses is detailed in the financial tables included with this press release.

(6)

Portfolio company financial information has not been independently verified by Main Street.

(7)

These credit statistics exclude portfolio companies on non-accrual status and portfolio companies for which EBITDA is not a meaningful metric.

(8)

No information contained on the Company's website or disclosed on the February 27, 2026 conference call, including the webcast and the archived versions, is incorporated by reference in this press release or any of the Company's filings with the SEC, and you should not consider that information to be part of this press release or any other such filing.

Contacts:
Main Street Capital Corporation
Dwayne L. Hyzak, CEO, [email protected]  
Ryan R. Nelson, CFO, [email protected]  
713-350-6000

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations
Ken Dennard / [email protected]  
Zach Vaughan / [email protected]  
713-529-6600

SOURCE Main Street Capital Corporation

BRANFORD, Conn., Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sachem Capital Corp. (NYSE American: SACH) (the “Company”) announced today that the Company will release its fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results after market closes on Thursday, March 12, 2026.

HOUSTON, Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Archrock, Inc. (NYSE: AROC) (“Archrock”) today announced that Archrock Partners, L.P. (“Archrock Partners”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Archrock, intends to redeem all $800 million aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 6.25% senior notes due 2028 (CUSIP No. 03959KAC4, U2214KAB6) (the “Notes”). Archrock Partners Finance Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Archrock Partners, is the co-issuer of the Notes.

Aptos could be a buying opportunity, given the indiscriminate selling pressure we're seeing in the crypto sector right now.

Aptos (APT 8.14%) is among the more unique cryptocurrency projects I've been keeping an eye on. Much of that has to do with the fact that this project was founded by former Meta Platforms (META +0.47%) engineers, using the Move programming language for its secure contracts, achieving impressive throughput and low-latency transactions, perfect for gaming and other decentralized finance applications.

Today's Change

(

-8.14

%) $

-0.08

Current Price

$

0.96

That said, given the market turmoil we're seeing today, it's perhaps not surprising that Aptos has declined 5.2% over the past 24 hours, as of 2:45 p.m. ET.

This decline comes amid some otherwise positive developments. Let's dive into what may be leading investors to hit the ask, or if this token represents a solid investment at these lower levels.

What's going on with Aptos right now?

Source: Getty Images.

What's interesting is that most of the developments I've been reading about regarding Aptos and its ecosystem have been broadly positive. In any other market with better sentiment readings, I'd argue this token would likely have appreciated significantly on a day like today.

Earlier today, Decibel launched on-chain perpetuals capabilities on Aptos, with pre-launch interest exceeding $50 million. That's a big deal. Additionally, the Aptos team has proposed a hard cap on newly issued tokens, with new token releases designed to spread inflationary impacts over a longer period. Those are broadly positive developments.

Developers are also ramping up their activity, with this network now ranked 10th overall in terms of activity across all blockchains. With total value locked (TVL) metrics remaining elevated and other key underlying fundamentals appearing solid, today's move seems tied to a broader shift away from speculative asset classes by investors looking to rotate their portfolio holdings.

Thus, I'm of the view that Aptos could be a buying opportunity right now for those willing to handle the volatility and leg into a position. We'll see what happens, but there are indeed plenty of positives underneath the surface that market participants aren't catching on to right now when it comes to Aptos.

Chris MacDonald has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Aptos and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Here is why Ethereum's bold new plan could make the blockchain giant high-speed 'internet of value' by 2029Beneath the technical language of the 'Strawmap' is a far simpler story: Ethereum is trying to decide what kind of infrastructure it wants to be by the end of the decade. Feb 26, 2026, 8:33 p.m.

The Ethereum Foundation’s newly released “Strawmap” reads, at first glance, like something only a protocol researcher could immediately comprehend. It’s dense, diagram-heavy and packed with references to forks, zkEVMs and data availability sampling.

But beneath the technical language is a far simpler story: Ethereum — the second-largest blockchain with more than $200 billion market cap — is trying to decide what kind of infrastructure it wants to be by the end of the decade.

The 'Strawmap' — explicitly framed as a draft, not an official plan — sketches out Ethereum upgrades through 2029. It is not binding, but it signals where some of the network’s most influential researchers believe the base layer should head next.

“The Strawmap is largely independent from Ethereum governance… it’s a tool that helps inform R&D well ahead of Ethereum governance, potentially even years ahead,” Justin Drake, a prominent Ethereum Foundation researcher, told CoinDesk in an interview.

That direction has real consequences beyond core developers.

Strawmap roadmap (Ethereum Foundation)At the center of the document are five ambitions: near-instant transaction finality, dramatically higher throughput, built-in privacy, quantum-resistant cryptography and tighter integration between Ethereum’s base layer and its layer 2 ecosystem.

Stripped of jargon, the goal is straightforward: make Ethereum faster, more scalable, more private and durable enough to last a long time.

Today, Ethereum transactions are included in blocks quickly, but the point at which they are considered irreversible, known as finality, takes too long (roughly 16 minutes). For most casual users, that nuance is invisible. For exchanges, bridges and financial applications, it’s critical.

In a thread responding to the roadmap, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin laid out how that could change. “Today, finality takes 16 minutes,” he wrote, adding that the goal is to “decouple slots and finality” and move toward a system where “endgame finality time might be eg. 6–16 sec.”

Moving from minutes to seconds changes how comfortably large amounts of value can move across the network.

The Layer 2 debateEarlier this month, Buterin argued that some of the assumptions behind the original layer 2 roadmap “no longer make sense” in their earlier form. Layer-2 networks were previously incorporated into Ethereum’s roadmap to scale the network by processing transactions off the main blockchain and settling them back to Ethereum, helping reduce congestion and fees.

However, as layer 1 or base layer scaling has improved and some rollups have taken longer than expected to decentralize, the idea that Ethereum would outsource most of its scaling burden entirely to L2s has become less clear-cut.

Instead, Buterin suggested a more balanced future — one where the base layer continues to strengthen while layer 2 networks evolve into more specialized roles, whether for privacy, specific applications or enhanced security models.

“Ultimately, we’re going to have finality in seconds,” Drake told CoinDesk, arguing that faster settlement will “help with bridging between the L2s” and improve user experience.

The Strawmap reflects that shift. It doesn't necessarily say layer 2s will go extinct, but neither does it treat layer 1 as frozen. Instead, it builds on a stronger base layer, alongside improvements that enable significantly higher layer 2 capacity, which could be seen as a dual-track scaling strategy.

Privacy and quantum threatPrivacy marks another notable shift in the draft of the new roadmap.

Ethereum’s transparency has long been viewed as a positive, as every transaction is visible. But openness limits certain use cases. The Strawmap contemplates native “shielded” transfers at the base layer, which would allow ETH to move without exposing full transaction details publicly. For individuals, that’s a matter of financial discretion. For businesses, it could determine whether certain activities move onchain at all.

And then there’s the long game: post-quantum cryptography. Quantum computing remains a developing field, but if Ethereum is meant to secure trillions in value over decades, its security assumptions cannot remain static. The Ethereum Foundation recently brought together a post-quantum team, and the roadmap only shows that it continues to double down on these efforts.

For developers and businesses, the roadmap provides directional clarity. Ethereum has often been criticized for moving slowly or for perpetually delaying the timelines of upgrades. By publishing a multi-year sketch, researchers are signaling that the network’s next phase is not just about patching limitations.

Ethereum’s history, though, is full of ambitious timelines that are overstretched. Governance in a decentralized system ensures debate and revision. The Strawmap itself acknowledges it will evolve.

“For me, this is ultimately about Ethereum becoming the internet of value, and ether, the asset, becoming money for the internet,” Drake told CoinDesk.

Read more: Ethereum Foundation drops most ambitious roadmap in years, targets finality in seconds by 2029

More For You

A $100 million crypto campaign fund with a pro-Trump vibe so far failed to show up

Feb 25, 2026

The Fellowship political action committee promised $100 million, with reports that Tether may have been tied as a backer, but the fund has so far delivered zero.

What to know:

It was supposed to be a major crypto player in the midterm U.S. congressional elections, according to its launch, but the Fellowship PAC hasn't yet appeared with its promised $100 million. Early reports had connected the effort with Tether as a backer, and when asked this week whether it's involved, a company spokesperson said "Tether International has no affiliation" with Fellowship. Despite Fellowship's September announcement, a live website and an account on X, no money has been set aside in the campaign fund, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission disclosures.

Common phrases heard among Bitcoiners include “don’t trust, verify” or “not your keys, not your coins”, sometimes even claiming that it’s “backed by math”. But what do these proverbs ultimately boil down to, and how exactly is this involved math put into practice? Most readers are surely aware that a fundamental ingredient in the design of Bitcoin is public-key cryptography and more specifically digital signatures, which are essential to prove ownership without needing a central entity. Probably less well-known is what piece of software is under the hood to make that elliptic curve math work and what efforts are involved to ensure that this happens in the most secure and performant way, with continuous improvements. Let’s dive into the exciting history and evolution of “libsecp256k1”, a library that started out as a small hobby project and over the years evolved into an essential part of consensus rules protecting a multi-trillion dollar asset.

The Genesis For reasons we don’t know for sure, Satoshi picked an elliptic curve named “secp256k1” for creating and verifying digital signatures in Bitcoin. The initial version of the Bitcoin client was shipped using the widespread OpenSSL library for signing and verifying transactions. Relying on a third-party library sounds like a reasonable approach from a software engineering perspective (even more so if it is something as domain-specific and complex as elliptic-curve

cryptography), but this choice turned out to be problematic later due to inconsistencies in the signature parsing code. In the worst case, this could even lead to unintended chain splits. One lesson from that time period was that OpenSSL is not a suitable library for a consensus-critical system like Bitcoin. The issue was later fixed by BIP66, which ensured a strict encoding of ECDSA signatures. After that, the OpenSSL dependency was replaced with libsecp256k1 in Bitcoin Core v0.12, released in early 2016.1

But taking a step back, the initial motivation behind starting the libsecp256k1 project was mostly curiosity about a potential speed-up. Sometime in the year 2012, Bitcoin Core developer Pieter Wuille a.k.a. “sipa” stumbled upon a bitcointalk thread by Hal Finney (known for being the recipient of the very first Bitcoin transaction in 2009 from Satoshi).

Under the subject “Speeding up signature verification”, the post discussed an optimization that would make use of a so-called “endomorphism” (more specifically using the so-called GLV-method, Gallant-Lambert-Vanstone), something that only certain elliptic curves allow, secp256k1 conveniently being one of them. Hal Finney himself implemented it using OpenSSL primitives, it was later even submitted as a PR to Bitcoin Core.2 Even though it showed a solid

~20% speedup, it was never merged in the end due to concerns about increasing code complexity and missing assurance that the involved cryptography is sound.

Pieter Wuille went ahead and decided to start a new library from scratch, with the initial commit of the “secp256k1” repository dating back to March 5th 2013. After only one week the library was able to verify the full blockchain (block height ~225000 at that time), within another week the signing functionality was implemented. It took some more time and testing until the library was ready to be used in Bitcoin Core as a replacement for OpenSSL, first for signing in the

wallet (release v0.10, 2015), and finally for ECDSA signature verification in consensus (release v0.12, 2016). The efforts were absolutely worth it: according to the PR description in Core, using libsecp256k1 for signature verification was “anywhere between 2.5 and 5.5 times faster”. Ironically, this didn’t yet include the earlier mentioned endomorphism optimization, since it wasn’t turned on by default due to worries about patent violation. It was only activated in the year 2020, after the patent expired (enabled in release v0.20), leading to another solid speed-up of around 16%.

Over time, the project attracted several other contributors. This naturally involved people that were closely working with Pieter from the start at Blockstream, namely then-CTO Gregory Maxwell and researcher Andrew Poelstra. In 2015, Jonas Nick and a few years later Tim Ruffing joined, both employed by Blockstream as researchers and now holding the role of maintainers of libsecp256k1 for several years. As they are responsible for both specifying new cryptographic

protocols (including detailed security proofs) and putting them into practice by implementing and reviewing them, it is very appropriate to call them “full-stack cryptographers”, as Tim Ruffing likes to describe himself.

Occasionally even cryptographers from outside the Bitcoin space have contributed to

libsecp256k1. One notable example of that is Peter Dettman, known for being one of the maintainers of the C#/Java cryptography library BouncyCastle, who up to this day shows up every now and then with various performance improvement suggestions. One of his major contributions was implementing modular inversion using the “safegcd” algorithm in 2021 to safely improve , following a paper by Daniel J. Bernstein and Bo-Yin Yang.

Why Reinvent The Wheel? The goal of libsecp256k1 is to provide the highest quality library for cryptographic operations on the secp256k1 curve, with the primary intent of being useful in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem–Bitcoin Core is simply the main client using it. The API of libsecp256k1 is designed to be robust and hard to misuse, in order to prevent users from performing insecure operations (e.g. by rolling their own cryptographic schemes) that could lead to a loss of funds in the worst case. By focussing only on one elliptic curve and by limiting its functionality to operations

relevant to Bitcoin (that is, primarily signing and verifying transactions), the code can be both faster and simpler to review, leading to a lower maintenance burden and higher overall quality in comparison to other implementations. libsecp256k1 is written in C and doesn’t have any dependency on other libraries, so it only uses internal code written specifically for the project. As such it is designed to also run on constrained devices like micro-controllers, which are commonly used in hardware wallets.

Measure Twice, Cut Once From very early on, libsecp256k1 had a strong focus on quality assurance that was continuously improved and honed over the years. Now it has a testing code coverage of close to 100%, and new modules only have a chance of getting merged if that bar is still met. In addition to that, there is also a special form of assurance called “exhaustive testing”. The basic idea is to exercise the functionality of the library for the whole space of possible values on the curve. As this would be infeasible on the actual secp256k1 curve, consisting of ~2^256 points, a special, much smaller but very similar curve is used which has an order that is merely in the double or triple digit range, so it can easily be executed within a reasonable amount of time. Another important part of testing is assurance of constant-time behaviour, which is particularly relevant for signing, as we will see below.

Schnorr: A Whole New World Shifting our focus from QA to new features, one of the major milestones within the last decade in libsecp256k1, and in the Bitcoin protocol in general, was the introduction of Schnorr signatures. Being an essential part of the Schnorr/Taproot soft-fork activated in late 2021, they offer many advantages over ECDSA signatures, including being provably secure under standard assumptions, more compact, and enabling a whole lot of other constructions on top like key and signature aggregation for more efficient multisignature schemes. Both the specification in BIP340 and implementation was  created by the current three maintainers of libsecp256k1, Pieter Wuille, Jonas Nick and Tim Ruffing.

libsecp256k1 Is Good For Your Node And The Network It goes without saying that verifying digital signatures is one of the (if not the) most important and security-critical code paths of the Bitcoin consensus engine. No matter what complex script-paths and extra spending conditions might be included in some locking script, at the end there is likely at least one signature check involved in the transaction to ensure that it was actually created by the owner of the coins being spent. For such an essential operation, we want the code to be as robust, well-tested and performant as possible. Fast signature verification is also critical for both fast transaction and block propagation, and also to speed-up the Initial Block Download (IBD) for new participants in the network. We have already mentioned earlier the ~5x speedup when libsecp256k1 replaced OpenSSL for the first time about ten years ago. Over time, further performance improvements were implemented, and a recent investigation shows that libsecp256k1 is now about ~8x faster than OpenSSL for ECDSA signature verification using the most current version of each.3

Signing Can Be Dangerous, So Do It Right So far we have focused on the verification functionality of libsecp256k1, being the most crucial for performance of node runners and miners. The other side of the coin (no pun intended!) is signing, i.e. the process of creating a digital signature for a transaction in order to spend funds. What makes this process delicate is the fact that secret key material is involved. If this material is in any way leaked, it could in the worst case lead to a catastrophic loss of funds, so special care has to be taken at the implementation level. libsecp256k1 tries to combat against so-called “side-channel attacks” by avoiding data-dependent branches, i.e. instances where different pieces of code are executed depending on what data is fed into it. This is a non-trivial task and takes some extra effort with regards to modern compilers, which are sometimes “too smart” in the sense that they try to optimize code while compiling it to software with resource saving branches where we explicitly don’t want that to happen. This is not just a theoretical concern, but has happened more than once, requiring patches to be shipped (e.g. releases 0.3.1 and 0.3.2). The important constant-time property is also tested using a tool called “valgrind” that was originally built for debugging memory issues. By using it to find any branching in code operating on secret data, we can detect if a potential side-channel risk exists.

Another way secret material could be leaked is by leaving it in memory unintentionally. Overwriting a memory region to make sure it is erased sounds trivial, but this has to be done in a way that prevents the compiler from getting in our way due to code optimization during compiling. Great care is taken to ensure that doesn’t occur.

Some Happy Accidents More than once during the development of the library interesting things came up by surprise. In 2014, Pieter Wuille and Gregory Maxwell were already working on an extensive test suite for the library. One of the strategies to achieve a higher degree of assurance was verifying the behaviour of internal functions in the library against other implementations with special random inputs. This revealed a case where OpenSSL gave a wrong result when squaring a number, a serious security relevant bug filed as CVE-2014-3570 (“Bignum squaring may produce incorrect results.”).

In another instance a few years later, Pieter Wuille proposed a new method for computing a bound (or limit) on the number of iterations needed for the previously mentioned “safegcd” algorithm for computing modular inverses. This allowed shrinking that bound, leading to a faster computation. But it didn’t stop there. Mostly by accident, Gregory Maxwell discovered a different variant of Bernstein and Yang’s algorithm with even lower bounds, leading to another significant speedup both for signing and verification. 

It’s noteworthy to mention that correctness (so, safety) of the “safegcd” implementation has been formally verified using a special theorem proving software called “Rocq” (formerly named “Coq”) and the “Verifiable C” program logic.4 This impressive work was done by Russell O’Connor and Andrew Poelstra, who state that the entirety of libsecp256k1 could be verified in the same way.

Cryptography Is Still Evolving We have now shown that libsecp256k1 is primarily used for creating and verifying digital signatures in Bitcoin transactions, taking great care to do so in the safest and most efficient way possible, but it doesn’t stop there. Whenever other proposals are put forward that involve cryptographic operations on the secp256k1 curve (ideally formalized in a BIP) and are seen as overall beneficial for the Bitcoin ecosystem, the chances are good that the necessary code is considered in-scope for the library. In such a case, given enough developer time for implementation and review, it has good odds at winding up in a release of libsecp256k1. This has notably happened before with the ElligatorSwift module, a piece that was essential for enabling encryption for nodes’ P2P communication [see BIP324; discussed in-depth on here], and most recently for MuSig2, a key aggregation scheme based on Schnorr signatures that allows creating n-on-n multi-signatures in a space-efficient and privacy-preserving way. There is also an ongoing effort to add a new module for Silent Payments, a proposal for a privacy-preserving static reusable address that doesn’t need interaction before payment between sender and receiver. And there is yet so much more to come: Batch Validation for Schnorr Signatures, DLEQ proofs, FROST, etc. Let’s see what the next 10 years of development in libsecp256k1 will bring!

Readers interested in libsecp256k1 are encouraged to take a look at and play around with secp256k1lab, a Python implementation of the secp256k1 curve that is intended for prototyping and experimentation.5

Get your copy of The Core Issue today! Don’t miss your chance to own The Core Issue — featuring articles written by many Core Developers explaining the projects they work on themselves!

This piece is the Letter from the Editor featured in the latest Print edition of Bitcoin Magazine, The Core Issue. We’re sharing it here as an early look at the ideas explored throughout the full issue.

[1] https://gnusha.org/pi/bitcoindev/[email protected]/ 

[2]  (#2061, https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/2061)

[3] https://delvingbitcoin.org/t/comparing-the-performance-of-ecdsa-signature-validation-in-openssl-vs-libsecp256k1-over-the-last-decade/2087?u=thestack

[4] [https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2507.17956] 

[5] https://github.com/secp256k1lab/secp256k1lab/

TLDR Flare and Xaman introduced a one-click system that allows XRP holders to access DeFi directly from their existing wallets. The integration targets more than 2 billion XRP tokens that remain idle in wallets and outside decentralized finance. The new process removes the need for separate wallets, gas tokens, and complex bridging steps. FAssets create a wrapped version of XRP on Flare that interacts with smart contracts. Flare Smart Accounts allow users to authorize transactions using their current XRPL credentials. Flare and Xaman introduced a new integration that targets more than 2 billion XRP tokens sitting idle in wallets. The companies estimate these tokens represent about 3.5% of the circulating supply and carry a value near $3 billion. The integration allows holders to access decentralized finance through a single in-wallet transaction.

Xaman Integrates Direct Vault Access on Flare Xaman confirmed it reached an agreement with the Flare blockchain to simplify DeFi access for XRP holders. The company said users can now deposit XRP directly into a curated vault on Flare through one action. The update removes the need to download new wallets or manage gas tokens.

Many XRP holders previously avoided DeFi due to technical barriers and unfamiliar interfaces. The new system embeds the full workflow inside the existing Xaman wallet. Wietse Wind, founder of Xaman, said, “This integration lets our users explore new options directly from the wallet they already know, while keeping full control of their keys and decisions.”

The integration relies on three core components that operate in the background. FAssets create a trust-minimized representation of XRP on Flare for smart contract use. Flare Smart Accounts let users authorize transactions with existing XRPL credentials.

Xaman provides the front-end interface and guides users through the process. As a result, users avoid handling separate private keys across different chains. The process reduces operational steps to a single confirmation within the wallet.

Behind the scenes, the transaction carries structured instructions across systems. Flare’s Data Connector validates each request before execution. Smart Account controllers mint the wrapped asset and allocate it into vault strategies.

FAssets and Smart Accounts Power XRPFi Workflow FAssets function as wrapped XRP that interacts with decentralized applications on Flare. The system creates FXRP, which users can deploy across lending and staking programs. Flare reported that minted FXRP supply has surpassed 100 million tokens.

More than 60 million FXRP tokens currently operate within staking programs and structured products. These figures show that some XRP holders already deploy assets into yield strategies. The new integration aims to expand that participation through simplified access.

Upshift manages the vault strategies while Clearstar curates capital deployment and risk controls. The companies structure strategies around lending markets and collateralized positions. They also use structured products to generate yield within defined parameters.

Flare compresses typical multi-step DeFi actions into one workflow through Smart Accounts. The system handles minting, allocation, and yield distribution automatically. Users only authorize the transaction through their existing credentials.

Recent market data showed XRP gained 6% earlier this week alongside a 212% rise in retail buying volume. Exchange-traded fund inflows have remained positive since their November launch. Flare and Xaman announced the integration as the FXRP minted supply crossed the 100 million mark.

Circle's blockchain-based ecosystem for stablecoin payments is expanding.

Circle (CRCL +4.81%), the fintech company best known for issuing the USD Coin (USDC 0.01%) stablecoin, went public at $31 on June 5, 2025. It now trades at about $87.

Circle's stock skyrocketed as the demand for its USD Coin stablecoins rose. USD Coin is directly backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries held by regulated custodians, which sets it apart from other stablecoins that rely on opaque assets to maintain their peg to the U.S. dollar.

Image source: Getty Images.

Circle generates most of its profits by investing its own USD Coin reserves into U.S. Treasuries, bank deposits, and other low-risk instruments to earn interest. It's also generating more platform and infrastructure fees by tethering more financial customers and countries to its ecosystem.

Those fees should rise as Circle gains more partners, reducing its long-term dependence on fixed-income investments. Let's take a closer look at two such companies -- Visa (V +1.23%) and Intuit (INTU +3.59%) -- and one entire country that could help Circle achieve that goal.

How are Visa and Intuit working with Circle? In late 2025, Visa and Intuit both launched programs to integrate Circle's USD Coin payments into their ecosystems. Visa began allowing its banking partners to settle card transactions in USD Coin on Circle's blockchain rather than through its own payments network.

Those transactions can be potentially faster than Visa's traditional settlements. Visa was also previously a design partner for Arc, Circle's purpose-built Layer 1 (L1) blockchain, so it clearly sees blockchain-based stablecoin settlements as the next leap forward for money transfers.

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Intuit is embedding USDC and Circle's stablecoin infrastructure into its top financial products, including TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp. It expects those integrations to accelerate the processing speeds of its payments and refunds.

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Which country is adopting Circle's technology? In 2019, Bermuda became the first country to accept taxes and other government payments in USD Coin. Earlier this year, it launched a broader pilot with Circle and Coinbase (COIN 1.55%) to explore the development of a fully "on-chain" national economy using USC Coin for all government payments and merchant transactions.

That program could convince other countries that have started dabbling with USD Coin -- including Japan, Brazil, and Mexico -- to launch similar initiatives.

Do those partnerships make Circle's stock a buy? From 2025 to 2027, analysts expect Circle's revenue to grow at a 26% CAGR. They also expect it to turn profitable this year and increase its EPS by 82% in 2027. Its stock isn't a bargain at 50 times next year's earnings, but it also doesn't seem like an overheated meme stock. So if you're optimistic about Circle's ability to build a new global blockchain-based payments platform with USD Coin, then it might be worth accumulating before it secures even bigger partnerships.

Bipartisan proposal would protect noncustodial software developers after Tornado Cash prosecutions raised concerns over coder liability.

Representatives Scott Fitzgerald, Ben Cline, and Zoe Lofgren today introduced the Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act of 2026, a bipartisan measure designed to shield software developers from criminal liability under federal money transmission laws.

The legislation aims to narrow the scope of 18 U.S.C. Section 1960, clarifying that the statute targets entities with custody over user funds rather than programmers who merely write or maintain open-source code.

Backers of the bill contend that Section 1960 was crafted decades ago for traditional financial intermediaries, not decentralized protocols. Enforcement agencies have increasingly applied it to noncustodial tools, creating uncertainty across the decentralized finance sector.

The proposal emerges amid ongoing congressional deliberations over the Clarity Act and broader digital-asset market structure legislation, where the treatment of DeFi developers remains contentious.

The bill responds directly to high-profile prosecutions that have tested the boundaries of money transmission law. The Treasury Department designated Tornado Cash, a privacy-focused mixing protocol, in August 2022, though the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated those sanctions in November 2024.

Federal prosecutors charged Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov in August 2023, alleging conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. A jury found Storm guilty on that count in August 2025 while failing to reach verdicts on additional charges.

Separately, Dutch authorities convicted developer Alexey Pertsev in May 2024, sentencing him to more than five years for laundering offenses connected to the protocol.

Industry advocates also cite the Samourai Wallet prosecution in the Southern District of New York, where the project’s leadership entered guilty pleas in August 2025 and received prison terms by November 2025, further intensifying debate over whether distributing software can equate to running a custody operation.

Editor’s note: The development was first reported by Eleanor Terrett on X.

Journalist

Posted: February 27, 2026

Bitcoin’s recent slide has reignited a familiar pattern in crypto markets: when prices fall sharply, speculation quickly turns toward culprits. 

This time, fingers have pointed at Jane Street, Binance, Wintermute, and even unnamed macro hedge funds allegedly dumping BTC at specific hours of U.S. trading.

But a closer look at Bitcoin’s price structure tells a far less dramatic — and far more consistent — story.

The Bitcoin sell-off began long before February Bitcoin’s decline did not start with a single event or headline. After topping out in the fourth quarter, price action shifted into a prolonged period of lower highs and choppy consolidation. 

That phase, visible well before February’s sharp leg down, is typically associated with distribution, not panic.

Large holders appeared to be reducing exposure gradually rather than exiting all at once. That process often involves a mix of spot selling, leverage reduction, and options strategies such as writing calls — none of which show up as a single “dump” on the chart.

By the time Bitcoin accelerated lower into the low-$60,000 range, much of the damage had already been done.

February’s drop was forced, not coordinated The steep sell-off in February coincided with a spike in trading volume and volatility, hallmarks of forced selling rather than controlled liquidation. 

Source: TradingView

Liquidation cascades, margin calls, and volatility-driven de-risking tend to compress into short timeframes once price breaks key support levels.

If a single firm or market maker were responsible, price action would likely have appeared smoother and more contained.

Instead, the move lower was sharp, disorderly, and accompanied by heavy volume near the lows — a pattern more consistent with capitulation than manipulation.

Why conspiracy theories keep resurfacing Narratives about Jane Street and other large firms have gained traction, partly due to recent legal and regulatory developments. This includes renewed scrutiny of trading behavior during past market collapses. 

These concerns have bled into broader market psychology, especially after prior crashes where billions were wiped out in a matter of hours.

However, correlation does not equal causation. The current drawdown unfolded over months, not minutes, weakening the case for a single actor driving the move.

As Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Invest, noted in a recent commentary, the explanation is ultimately far less sensational: investors who were long Bitcoin sold their exposure for a range of reasons, from cycle timing and macro uncertainty to reallocating capital elsewhere.

A cycle-driven reset, not a structural break Historically, Bitcoin has experienced deep drawdowns during mid-cycle resets without undermining its longer-term trajectory.

The roughly 45% peak-to-trough decline fits within that historical context, particularly following a period of heavy leverage and crowded positioning.

Importantly, selling pressure appears to be slowing. Recent price stabilization suggests that much of the forced unwinding may already be behind the market, even as sentiment remains fragile.

That does not guarantee an immediate rebound — but it does argue against the idea that a single institution engineered Bitcoin’s decline.

Final Summary Bitcoin’s drawdown reflects a broad de-risking cycle rather than coordinated manipulation by any one firm or exchange. As selling pressure fades, the focus is likely to shift from assigning blame to assessing where the market stabilizes next.

Nasdaq has filed a proposed rule change to list the VanEck JitoSOL ETF, a fund designed to hold the Solana-based liquid staking token JitoSOL.

Liquid staking allows users to stake tokens to help secure a proof-of-stake network while receiving a transferable token in return that represents the staked assets and accrued rewards.

Jito Foundation president Brian Smith told Cointelegraph that if the fund is approved, staking rewards would not be distributed separately but instead reflected in the fund’s net asset value.

Because JitoSOL automatically compounds rewards, each token held by the trust would represent the underlying deposited SOL along with any staking yield accrued on the Solana network.

The exchange submitted the proposal under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d), which governs commodity-based trust shares, seeking approval to list and trade shares of a trust that would hold JitoSOL directly.

Created by the Jito Network, JitoSOL (JTO) is a liquid staking token backed by SOL deposited into a staking pool on the Solana network. It lets holders earn staking rewards through a transferable token without directly running validators or managing onchain staking.

The filing cites the SEC’s prior spot Bitcoin (BTC) and spot Ether (ETH) ETP approval orders, arguing the proposal satisfies fraud, manipulation and surveillance standards and can be approved through “other means” despite the absence of a regulated futures market for JitoSOL.

According to the proposal, the trust would value its shares using the MarketVector JitoSol VWAP Close Index, which is calculated from pricing data contributed by multiple trading platforms, and the trust would permit both cash and in-kind creations and redemptions.

The filing also claims JitoSOL is economically comparable to SOL (SOL), citing correlation data, and says an appropriately structured liquid staking token can be treated as analogous to the underlying asset for purposes of the generic listing standards approved by the SEC in September.

Under the SEC’s review process, the agency has 45 days from Federal Register publication to approve or disapprove the proposal, which can be extended to 90 days.

Staking exposure exists, but not liquid staking ETFsWhile the VanEck JitoSOL ETF has reached the SEC’s exchange review stage, no liquid staking token ETF of this type is currently trading in the United States. There are, however, existing funds that provide regulated exposure to staking economics.

One of the earliest US ETFs to offer direct staking exposure was the REX-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF (SSK), which began trading on July 2, and combines spot Solana price exposure with onchain staking rewards distributed to shareholders.

In September, the company launched the REX-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF (ESK), offering spot Ether exposure alongside monthly payouts tied to staking yield.

About a month later, Grayscale expanded staking across its exchange-traded lineup, adding staking exposure to the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF and Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE). The company also enabled staking for the Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL), which is seeking regulatory approval to uplist as an ETP.

While the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance said in May that certain protocol staking activities generally do not involve the offer or sale of securities under federal law, and in August issued similar staff guidance on liquid staking and staking receipt tokens, the statements are not formal rulemaking and do not automatically approve specific products.

In Europe, 21Shares launched a Jito-staked Solana exchange-traded product in January, providing listed exposure to SOL with staking integrated into the structure.

Jito’s total value locked (TVL) stands at around $1.1 billion, after peaking above $3.0 billion in 2025 before retracing into early 2026, according to DefiLlama data.

TVL for Jito liquid staking. Source: DefiLlamaMagazine: Clarity Act risks repeat of Europe’s mistakes, crypto lawyer warns

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy

Leverage has been flushed out & accumulation appears to be taking hold, yet an expert warns the Jane Street narrative feels like a psyop.

Market Sentiment:

Bullish Bearish Neutral

Published: February 26, 2026 │ 9:07 PM GMT

Created by Kornelija Poderskytė from DailyCoin

Zach Rector is saying that a high-profile market-manipulation lawsuit targeting trading firm Jane Street may be coinciding with the end of a long stretch of crypto market suppression — but warns the apparent relief rally could be a trap.

The YouTube show host, who focuses heavily on XRP and macro liquidity cycles, links the recent complaint filed by the Terraform Labs bankruptcy administrator against Jane Street to a noticeable turn in market sentiment and price action, particularly in XRP.

Sponsored

Since the lawsuit emerged, Rector notes, “our market has basically moved up and to the right,” with Jane Street even wiping its public posts from its official X account.

Jane Street Lawsuit, CME Halt & XRP’s Sharp MoveThe complaint, as summarized in the video, alleges that former Terraform employees who joined Jane Street helped create a backchannel between the firm and Terra, enabling insider trading around the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin UST.

The analyst highlights accusations that Jane Street “piggybacked” on insider knowledge and accelerated the de-pegging of UST for profit.

At the same time, Zach Rector points to other market oddities.

ZeroHedge data shows Jane Street becoming the largest holder of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), adding a record 20.6 million shares in Q4.

Fucking finally:

Jane Street was sued for alleged insider trading by the administrator winding up the affairs of Terraform Labs, the firm whose $40 billion collapse in 2022 roiled the crypto markets and contributed to the collapse of FTX https://t.co/qVNGbUpJhR

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 24, 2026 On the same day, the CME halted trading in global metals and natural gas futures and options due to a “technical issue,” briefly freezing those markets before a phased reopening.

In crypto, XRP has reacted sharply. Zach says XRP jumped about 6% to roughly $1.42, with spot demand outpacing selling two-to-one amid what he calls “institutional accumulation.”

He notes that in a single 12‑hour window, less than $15 million in net spot inflows was enough to push XRP above $1.40, with a spike toward about $1.49 shortly after.

Macro Threats Overshadow Cleaner Crypto MarketDespite the bullish optics — leverage flushed out, alleged manipulation exposed, inflows returning — the host is not calling a clean bottom. He suspects the Jane Street narrative “almost feels like a psyop,” potentially luring retail back in just as larger risks loom.

Those risks are almost entirely macro: potential U.S. strikes on Iran, a developing private credit crunch, trade tensions, and what he frames as an ongoing “debt, currency and liquidity crisis with war.”

He highlights claims that around $12.2 trillion in short-term U.S. T‑bills are scheduled to hit the market over six to seven months, dwarfing the roughly $4.8 trillion of QE seen over two years after 2020. Whatever label policymakers use, he argues, it implies a massive liquidity wave that historically has supercharged crypto cycles.

Zach Rector is positioning for both scenarios: he has placed new spot buy orders for XRP, plans to add to an XRP long, and is watching other “utility” assets such as XLM and HBAR. But he also keeps cash ready, expecting that a geopolitical or credit shock could trigger one more sharp pullback before any sustained leg higher.

For crypto investors, the takeaway is twofold: structural cleanup in digital markets — from ETF transparency to litigation against market makers — may be improving the quality of the rally, but the real drivers remain global liquidity and macro risk.

A modest amount of capital is already moving prices aggressively; a larger liquidity event, positive or negative, could do far more.

Check out DailyCoin’s top crypto scoops today:
NVIDIA Reports Record Q4 Revenue, Sends Crypto Higher
OCC Moves to Regulate Stablecoins Under GENIUS Act

People Also Ask:Is the Jane Street lawsuit proven market manipulation?

Not really. The video discusses allegations from a newly filed complaint tied to the Terra/UST collapse. The case is ongoing, and nothing has been proven in court.

Does the analyst believe the XRP bottom is in?

He says it “very well could be,” but he still expects a potential pullback driven by macro shocks rather than crypto-specific factors.

Why did XRP move so much on relatively small inflows?

According to the video, roughly $15 million in net spot inflows over 12 hours helped push XRP above $1.40, underscoring how thin liquidity and reduced leverage can amplify price moves.

What catalysts could hit crypto next?

The host points to possible Iran-related military action, a private credit event, tariff escalations, or broader liquidity stress tied to a flood of short-term U.S. debt issuance.

DailyCoin's Vibe Check: Which way are you leaning towards after reading this article?

Market Sentiment

0% Neutral

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Ether (ETH) price reached a weekly high of $2,150 on Thursday, which is a key level for large ETH holders, but volatility in the crypto and stock markets continues to catalyze corrections below $2,000.

A daily close above $2,100 remains important because that level aligns with the cost basis and realized price of wallets holding 100,000 or more ETH. Realized price tracks the last moved price of coins, offering a profitability gauge rather than a spot reference.

ETH Realized price by balance cohorts. Source: CryptoQuantSince 2020, Ether has traded below this whale cohort’s realized price only a handful of times, most notably during the 2022 bear market. The chart shows that the price has regularly recovered after the realized price level was tested as support.

Futures market analyst Dom described the setup as “a good clean look for the whole market,” pointing to an early-week sweep near the range lows. Dom said that the price tapped the one-month rolling VWAP (volume-weighted average price) and the value area high, the upper boundary of the price range where most of the volume traded over the past month. 

Ether price analysis by Dom. Source: XThe VWAP measures the average traded price weighted by volume. Acceptance over $2,140 may mark a shift in short-term order flow, while failure to retain a higher level keeps the price inside the established range.

$1,800 remains the key price level to watchCoinGlass data highlighted short liquidations of over $220 million over the past two days, clearing overhead leverage. Now, roughly $2.66 billion in cumulative long liquidation exposure sits near $1,800, forming a liquidity pocket below the price.

ETH exchange liquidation map. Source: CoinGlassCrypto analyst Pelin Ay pointed to a notable shift in funding rates on Binance. ETH funding flipped sharply negative earlier this month as aggressive short positions piled in alongside Ether price weakness. Following Tuesday’s drop below $1,800, the funding rate has since swung back into positive territory at 0.23%, a sign that late shorts were squeezed out of their positions.

Ether funding rate on Binance. Source: CryptoQuantHowever, with the funding rate now elevated, traders’ positioning appears to be tilting toward the long side. If this trade becomes overcrowded, it raises the risk of a potential long squeeze near the $1,800 level once again, especially if the price momentum stalls or reverses.

Market analyst IncomeSharks identified three technical hurdles, including repeat super trend rejections and a channel resistance near $2,250. 

ETH daily chart analysis by IncomeShark. Source: XThe SuperTrend uses volatility, measured by the average true range (ATR), to define the trend direction. When the price trades below the indicator, the line flips red and acts as dynamic resistance. On the chart above, each rebound has been rejected at the red band, signaling that sellers remain in control.

The analyst added that traders should watch whether Ether revisits or finds renewed buying interest near the April lows around $1,500, a level that resides between a weekly demand zone of $1,691 and $1,384, before any sustained move above $2,500 can take shape.

Ether weekly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingViewThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. While we strive to provide accurate and timely information, Cointelegraph does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information in this article. This article may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your reliance on this information.

A quick search on Google Trends shows that “Buy Bitcoin” is trending at its highest level in roughly 5 years. The interesting thing regarding this development is the timing, as BTC is under a lot of pressure right now, having lost 45% of its value in the last 4 months. The retail market is posting record-low interest, and yet “buy bitcoin” is suddenly trending on Google. 

Here is the statistic for the last 5 years:

Image Source: Google Trends However, recent search activity shows increasing interest in purchasing the cryptocurrency despite its ongoing troubles. 

The Jane Street Effect Further Google results show that the interest peaked around February 22, just a few days ago, based on the last 3 months’ action:

Image Source: Google Trends The timing of this peak interest in buying Bitcoin is important, as according to one analyst, it is in direct response to a lawsuit against investment company Jane Street, which stands accused of insider trading that exacerbated the 2022 Terra/Luna collapse by withdrawing $85 million in TerraUSD shortly after Terraform’s liquidity pull.

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Because of Jane Street’s timely attack, Terraform Labs’ UST crashed hard, wiping out $40 billion in value from its algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem. Now, the former has landed in hot water after this latest revelation. While the accused party denies the allegations, instead attributing Terra’s downfall to its own multibillion-dollar fraud, the timing of the news has fueled speculation that conventional investment arms are seeking a role in tanking crypto projects and profiting from it.

The positive take from this development is that users are realizing some smaller cryptocurrencies are vulnerable to major manipulation by big players, and BTC is the best bet in that scenario. The situation might improve after the passage of the CLARITY Act and increased awareness in the community.

However, one X user didn’t agree with the take, arguing the peak interest occurred right before the Jane Street scandal:

Image Source: X Is Bitcoin’s Bottom In? Bitcoin lost as much as 52.15% of its value from its All-time high (ATH) of $126.5k a few weeks ago, when it tested the $60k level. While multiple analysts are pointing out that a further price drop could be on the cards, making claims as low as $55k or even below $50k, the bottom might be closer than we think.

The cryptocurrency is currently trading around the $68k valuation, up around 4.5% in the last 24 hours.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Net Investment Income of $0.28 Per Share

Fourth Quarter 2025 Adjusted Net Investment Income(1) of $0.34 Per Share

Fourth Quarter 2025 Adjusted Net Investment Income Before Taxes(2) of $0.37 Per Share

Net Asset Value of $15.85 Per Share

, /PRNewswire/ -- MSC Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MSIF) ("MSC Income" or the "Fund") is pleased to announce its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Highlights

Net investment income ("NII") of $13.1 million, or $0.28 per share, including the impact of the capital gains incentive fee(3) of $2.8 million, or $0.06 per share, and excise tax and NII related income taxes of $1.3 million, or $0.03 per share NII excluding the impact of the capital gains incentive fee,(3) or adjusted net investment income ("ANII"),(1) of $15.9 million, or $0.34 per share ANII excluding the impact of excise tax and NII related income taxes, or ANII before taxes,(2) of $17.2 million, or $0.37 per share Total investment income of $34.9 million Net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $30.0 million, or $0.64 per share Return on equity(4) of 16.3% on an annualized basis Net asset value of $15.85 per share as of December 31, 2025, representing an increase of $0.31 per share, or 2.0%, compared to $15.54 per share as of September 30, 2025 Declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share and a supplemental dividend of $0.01 per share, both payable in the first quarter of 2026, resulting in total dividends declared in the fourth quarter of 2025 of $0.36 per share Completed $100.9 million in total private loan portfolio investments, which after aggregate repayments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $57.1 million in the total cost basis of the private loan investment portfolio Completed $23.0 million in total lower middle market ("LMM") portfolio follow-on investments, which after aggregate repayments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $14.9 million in the total cost basis of the LMM investment portfolio Full Year 2025 Highlights

NII of $61.8 million, or $1.33 per share, including the impact of the capital gains incentive fee(3) of $2.8 million, or $0.06 per share, and excise tax and NII related income taxes of $3.8 million, or $0.08 per share NII excluding the impact of the capital gains incentive fee,(3) or ANII,(1) of $64.5 million, or $1.39 per share ANII excluding the impact of excise tax and NII related income taxes, or ANII before taxes,(2) of $68.3 million, or $1.47 per share Total investment income of $139.2 million Net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $88.7 million, or $1.91 per share Return on equity(4) of 12.5% Net asset value of $15.85 per share as of December 31, 2025, representing an increase of $0.32 per share, or 2.1%, compared to $15.53 per share as of December 31, 2024 Declared regular quarterly dividends totaling $1.40 per share and supplemental dividends totaling $0.04 per share, resulting in total dividends declared of $1.44 per share Completed $357.1 million in total private loan portfolio investments, which after aggregate repayments and sales of debt investments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $109.6 million in the total cost basis of the private loan investment portfolio Completed $53.5 million in total LMM portfolio follow-on investments, which after aggregate repayments, return of invested equity capital and a decrease in cost basis due to realized losses resulted in a net increase of $27.1 million in the total cost basis of the LMM investment portfolio Further diversified the Fund's capital structure and enhanced its liquidity position by (i) amending the Corporate Facility to increase total commitments to $245.0 million (from $165.0 million), increase the accordion feature to up to a total of $300.0 million and expand and diversify the lender group to seven participants and (ii) amending the SPV Facility to decrease the interest rate to the applicable Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") plus 2.20% (from 3.00%), extend the revolving period through February 2029 and extend the final maturity date to February 2030, with the Corporate Facility and SPV Facility each defined in the Liquidity and Capital Resources section below Entered into an amended advisory agreement effective upon the listing of the Fund's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") in January 2025 (the "MSC Income Listing") to, among other things, (i) reduce the annual base management fee payable by the Fund to 1.5% of its average total assets (with additional future contractual reductions based upon changes to the composition of the Fund's investment portfolio), (ii) reduce to 17.5% the subordinated incentive fee on income payable by the Fund, subject to a 50% / 50% catch-up feature, (iii) reduce to 17.5% and reset the incentive fee on cumulative net realized capital gains payable by the Fund and (iv) establish a cap on the amount of expenses payable by the Fund relating to certain internal administrative services, which varies based on the value of the Fund's total assets In commenting on the Fund's operating results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025, Dwayne L. Hyzak, MSC Income's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very pleased with the Fund's performance in the fourth quarter, which resulted in an annualized return on equity of 16.3%, favorable adjusted net investment income per share and a significant net increase in the fair value of the Fund's investments, including the benefits of net realized gains in both the Fund's private loan and lower middle market investments, which resulted in a significant increase in net asset value per share. The Fund also produced favorable investment activity in the fourth quarter which generated meaningful growth of the Fund's investment portfolio."

Mr. Hyzak continued, "After the Fund's positive performance in the first three quarters of 2025, the Fund's strong performance in the fourth quarter resulted in a return on equity of 12.5% for the full year. Based upon the quality of the Fund's existing investment portfolio, combined with the Fund's existing liquidity and expanded regulatory leverage capacity which became effective for the Fund at the end of January 2026, we remain excited about our future expectations for the Fund."

Fourth Quarter 2025 Operating Results

The following table provides a summary of the Fund's operating results for the fourth quarter of 2025:

Three Months Ended December 31,

2025

2024

Change ($)

Change (%)

(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

Interest income

$           28,860

$           29,662

$              (802)

(3) %

Dividend income

5,308

2,731

2,577

94 %

Fee income

748

1,062

(314)

(30) %

Total investment income

$           34,916

$           33,455

$             1,461

4 %

Net investment income (5)

$           13,122

$           13,557

$              (435)

(3) %

Net investment income per share (5)

$               0.28

$               0.34

$             (0.06)

(18) %

Adjusted net investment income (1)

$           15,885

$           13,557

$             2,328

17 %

Adjusted net investment income per share (1)

$               0.34

$               0.34

$                   —

— %

Adjusted net investment income before taxes (2)

$           17,162

$           14,227

$             2,935

21 %

Adjusted net investment income before taxes per share (2)

$               0.37

$               0.35

$               0.02

6 %

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations

$           30,035

$           20,462

$             9,573

47 %

Net increase in net assets resulting from operations per share

$               0.64

$               0.51

$               0.13

25 %

The $1.5 million increase in total investment income in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year was principally attributable to a $2.6 million increase in dividend income, primarily due to a $2.5 million increase in dividend income from the Fund's LMM portfolio companies. The increase was partially offset by (i) a $0.8 million decrease in interest income, principally attributable to a decrease in interest rates, primarily resulting from decreases in benchmark index rates on floating rate debt investments, and a larger negative impact from investments on non-accrual status, partially offset by higher average levels of income producing investment portfolio debt investments and (ii) a $0.3 million decrease in fee income, principally attributable to a decrease in fee income from the refinancing and prepayment of debt investments. The $1.5 million increase in total investment income in the fourth quarter of 2025 includes the impact of an increase of $1.1 million in certain income considered less consistent or non-recurring, primarily related to increases of (i) $1.2 million in such dividend income and (ii) $0.1 million in such interest income from accelerated prepayment, repricing and other activity related to certain investment portfolio debt investments, partially offset by a $0.3 million decrease in such fee income, in each case when compared to the same period in 2024.

Total expenses, net of waivers, increased by $1.3 million, or 6.7%, to $20.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 from $19.2 million for the same period in 2024. This increase was principally attributable to a $2.8 million capital gains incentive fee(3) accrued in the fourth quarter of 2025, partially offset by (i) a $1.2 million decrease in interest expense and (ii) a $0.4 million decrease in base management fees. The capital gains incentive fee(3) is primarily the result of the significant net fair value appreciation of the Fund's investments recognized during the fourth quarter of 2025. The decrease in interest expense is primarily related to a decreased weighted-average interest rate on the Credit Facilities due to a decrease to the applicable spreads resulting from amendments of the Credit Facilities since the fourth quarter of 2024 and decreases in benchmark index rates.

The Fund's ratio of total non-interest operating expenses, excluding incentive fees, as a percentage of quarterly average total assets, or the Operating Expenses to Assets Ratio, decreased to 1.8% on an annualized basis for the fourth quarter of 2025, from 2.1% for the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily as a result of the decreased base management fee percentage under the amended advisory agreement effective upon the MSC Income Listing in January 2025.

NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses increased $0.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year, primarily driven by an increase in taxable NII between the relevant periods.

The $0.4 million decrease in NII in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year was principally attributable to increases in (i) total expenses, net of waivers, and (ii) NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses, partially offset by an increase in total investment income, each as discussed above. NII on a per share basis decreased by $0.06 per share for the fourth quarter of 2025 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, to $0.28 per share, reflecting the impact of the $0.06 per share capital gains incentive fee accrual in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The $2.3 million increase in ANII(1) in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year was principally attributable to the same factors noted above for the change in NII, which include (i) an increase in total investment income, (ii) a decrease in interest expense and (iii) a decrease in base management fees, partially offset by an increase in NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses, each as discussed above, but excluding the impact of the capital gains incentive fee accrual in 2025. ANII(1) on a per share basis for the fourth quarter of 2025 was consistent with the fourth quarter of 2024 at $0.34 per share.

The per share changes in NII and ANII(1) in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the comparable period of the prior year include the impact of a 16.6% increase in the weighted-average shares outstanding, primarily due to new shares issued through the MSC Income Listing and the dividend reinvestment plan, partially offset by shares repurchased by the Fund. NII and ANII(1) on a per share basis in the fourth quarter of 2025 each include a net increase of $0.02 per share resulting from an increase in investment income considered less consistent or non-recurring in nature compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, as discussed above.

The $30.0 million net increase in net assets resulting from operations in the fourth quarter of 2025 represents a $9.6 million increase from the fourth quarter of 2024. This increase was primarily the result of a $16.0 million increase in the net fair value change of the Fund's portfolio investments resulting from the net impact of net realized gains/losses and net unrealized appreciation/depreciation, with the increase resulting from a net fair value increase of $17.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to a net fair value increase of $1.2 million in the comparable period of the prior year, partially offset by (i) a $6.0 million increase in net tax provision on the net fair value change of the portfolio investments resulting from a net tax provision of $0.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to a net tax benefit of $5.7 million in the comparable period of the prior year and (ii) a $0.4 million decrease in NII as discussed above. The $17.2 million net fair value increase in the fourth quarter of 2025 was the result of a net realized gain of $16.6 million and net unrealized appreciation (including the reversal of net fair value appreciation recognized in prior periods due to the net realized gain in the quarter) of $0.5 million. The $1.2 million net fair value increase in the fourth quarter of 2024 was the result of net unrealized appreciation of $9.2 million, partially offset by a net realized loss of $8.0 million. The $16.6 million net realized gain from investments for the fourth quarter of 2025 was primarily the result of (i) $16.1 million of realized gains on the full exits of two private loan portfolio investments and (ii) a $6.0 million realized gain on the full exit of a LMM portfolio investment, partially offset by (i) a $5.2 million realized loss on the restructure of a private loan portfolio investment and (ii) a $0.3 million realized loss on the full exit of a private loan portfolio investment.

The following table provides a summary of the total net unrealized appreciation of $0.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2025:

Three Months Ended December 31, 2025

Private

Loan

LMM (a)

Middle

Market

Other

Total

(in millions)

Accounting reversals of net unrealized (appreciation) depreciation recognized in prior periods due to net realized (gains / income) losses recognized during the current period

$         (11.0)

$           (6.2)

$              —

$              —

$         (17.2)

Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) relating to portfolio investments

8.4

12.2

(3.1)

0.2

17.7

Total net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) relating to portfolio investments

$           (2.6)

$             6.0

$           (3.1)

$             0.2

$             0.5

(a)

Includes unrealized appreciation on 34 LMM portfolio investments and unrealized depreciation on 11 LMM portfolio investments.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2025, the Fund had aggregate liquidity of $112.0 million, including (i) $20.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and (ii) $91.4 million of aggregate unused capacity under the Fund's corporate revolving credit facility (the "Corporate Facility") and the Fund's special purpose vehicle revolving credit facility (the "SPV Facility" and, together with the Corporate Facility, the "Credit Facilities"), which the Fund maintains to support its investment and operating activities.

Several details regarding the Fund's capital structure as of December 31, 2025 are as follows:

The SPV Facility included $300.0 million in total commitments plus an accordion feature that allows the Fund to request an increase in the total commitments under the facility to up to $450.0 million. $244.0 million in outstanding borrowings under the SPV Facility, with an interest rate of 5.9% based on the applicable SOFR effective for the contractual reset date of January 1, 2026. The Corporate Facility included $245.0 million in total commitments from a diversified group of seven participating lenders, plus an accordion feature that allows the Fund to request an increase in the total commitments under the facility to up to $300.0 million. $209.0 million in outstanding borrowings under the Corporate Facility, with an interest rate of 5.8% based on the applicable SOFR effective for the contractual reset date of January 1, 2026. $150.0 million of unsecured notes outstanding that bear interest at a rate of 4.04% per year (the "Series A Notes"). The Series A Notes mature on October 30, 2026. The Fund maintains an investment grade rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC of BBB- with a stable outlook. Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC reaffirmed its rating in October 2025. The Fund's net asset value totaled $738.7 million, or $15.85 per share. The Fund's debt-to-equity ratio was 0.82x as of December 31, 2025, below the Fund's targeted leverage range. Effective on January 29, 2026, the Fund's minimum regulatory asset coverage requirement decreased from 200% to 150%. Investment Portfolio Information as of December 31, 2025(6)

The following table provides a summary of the investments in the Fund's private loan portfolio and LMM portfolio as of December 31, 2025:

December 31, 2025

Private Loan

LMM (a)

(dollars in millions)

Number of portfolio companies

81

55

Fair value

$                     809.0

$                     487.6

Cost

$                     821.7

$                     384.8

Debt investments as a % of portfolio (at cost)

92.1 %

70.6 %

Equity investments as a % of portfolio (at cost)

7.9 %

29.4 %

% of debt investments at cost secured by first priority lien

99.9 %

99.9 %

Weighted-average annual effective yield (b)

10.7 %

12.4 %

Average EBITDA (c)

$                       30.0

$                       11.7

(a)

The Fund had equity ownership in all of its LMM portfolio companies, and the Fund's average fully diluted equity ownership in those portfolio companies was 8%.

(b)

The weighted-average annual effective yields were computed using the effective interest rates for all debt investments as of December 31, 2025, including amortization of deferred debt origination fees and accretion of original issue discount but excluding fees payable upon repayment of the debt instruments and any debt investments on non-accrual status, and are weighted based upon the principal amount of each applicable debt investment as of December 31, 2025.

(c)

The average EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is calculated using a weighted-average for private loan portfolio companies and a simple average for LMM portfolio companies. These calculations exclude certain portfolio companies, including four private loan portfolio companies and three LMM portfolio companies, as EBITDA is not a meaningful valuation metric for the Fund's investments in these portfolio companies, and those portfolio companies whose primary purpose is to own real estate and those portfolio companies whose primary operations have ceased and only residual value remains.

The Fund's total investment portfolio at fair value consists of approximately 61% private loan, 36% LMM, 2% middle market and 1% other portfolio investments.

The fair value of the Fund's LMM portfolio company equity investments was 201% of the related cost basis of such equity investments, and the Fund's LMM portfolio companies had a median net senior debt (senior interest-bearing debt through the Fund's debt position less cash and cash equivalents) to EBITDA ratio of 2.5 to 1.0 and a median total EBITDA to senior interest expense ratio of 2.9 to 1.0. Including all debt that is junior in priority to the Fund's debt position, these median ratios were 2.7 to 1.0 and 2.8 to 1.0, respectively.(6)(7)

As of December 31, 2025, the Fund's investment portfolio also included:

Middle market portfolio investments in eight portfolio companies, collectively totaling $23.3 million in fair value and $39.8 million in cost basis, which comprised 1.7% and 3.2% of the Fund's investment portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively; and Other portfolio investments in six entities, spread across four investment managers, collectively totaling $15.5 million in fair value and $13.7 million in cost basis, which comprised 1.2% and 1.1% of the Fund's investment portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, investments on non-accrual status comprised 1.0% of the total investment portfolio at fair value and 3.9% at cost, and the Fund's total portfolio investments at fair value were 106% of the related cost basis.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call / Webcast

MSC Income has scheduled a conference call for Friday, February 27, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results.(8)

You may access the conference call by dialing 412-902-0030 at least 10 minutes prior to the start time. The conference call can also be accessed via a simultaneous webcast by logging into the investor relations section of the Fund's website at https://www.mscincomefund.com.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through Friday, March 6, 2026 and may be accessed by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the passcode 13758250#. An audio archive of the conference call will also be available on the investor relations section of the Fund's website at https://www.mscincomefund.com shortly after the call and will be accessible until the date of MSC Income's earnings release for the next quarter.

For a more detailed discussion of the financial and other information included in this press release, please refer to the MSC Income Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") (www.sec.gov) and MSC Income's Fourth Quarter 2025 Investor Presentation to be posted on the investor relations section of the MSC Income website at https://www.mscincomefund.com.

ABOUT MSC INCOME FUND, INC.

The Fund (www.mscincomefund.com) is a principal investment firm that primarily provides debt capital to private companies owned by or in the process of being acquired by a private equity fund. The Fund's portfolio investments are typically made to support leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings, refinancings and acquisitions of companies that operate in diverse industry sectors. The Fund seeks to partner with private equity fund sponsors and primarily invests in secured debt investments within its private loan investment strategy. The Fund also maintains a portfolio of customized long-term debt and equity investments in lower middle market companies, and through those investments, the Fund has partnered with entrepreneurs, business owners and management teams in co-investments with Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE: MAIN) ("Main Street") utilizing the customized "one-stop" debt and equity financing solutions provided in Main Street's lower middle market investment strategy. The Fund's private loan portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $25 million and $500 million. The Fund's lower middle market portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million.

ABOUT MSC ADVISER I, LLC

MSC Adviser I, LLC ("MSCA") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Main Street that is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. MSCA serves as the investment adviser and administrator of the Fund in addition to several other advisory clients.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

MSC Income cautions that statements in this press release which are forward–looking and provide other than historical information, including but not limited to MSC Income's ability to successfully source and execute on new portfolio investments and deliver future financial performance and results, are based on current conditions and information available to MSC Income as of the date hereof and include statements regarding MSC Income's goals, beliefs, strategies and future operating results and cash flows. Although its management believes that the expectations reflected in those forward–looking statements are reasonable, MSC Income can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to be correct. Those forward-looking statements are made based on various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including, without limitation: MSC Income's continued effectiveness in raising, investing and managing capital; adverse changes in the economy generally or in the industries in which MSC Income's portfolio companies operate; the impacts of macroeconomic factors on MSC Income and its portfolio companies' businesses and operations, liquidity and access to capital, and on the U.S. and global economies, including impacts related to pandemics and other public health crises, global conflicts, risk of recession, tariffs and trade disputes, inflation, supply chain constraints or disruptions and changes in market index interest rates; changes in laws and regulations or business, political and/or regulatory conditions that may adversely impact MSC Income's operations or the operations of its portfolio companies; the operating and financial performance of MSC Income's portfolio companies and their access to capital; retention of key investment personnel by MSCA; competitive factors; and such other factors described under the captions "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" included in MSC Income's filings with the SEC (www.sec.gov). MSC Income undertakes no obligation to update the information contained herein to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances, except as required by applicable securities laws and regulations.

MSC INCOME FUND, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except shares and per share amounts)

Three Months Ended December 31,

Year Ended December 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

INVESTMENT INCOME:

Interest, dividend and fee income:

Control investments

$               1,234

$                   799

$               5,483

$               3,441

Affiliate investments

10,629

8,331

38,849

31,222

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

23,053

24,325

94,821

100,165

Total investment income

34,916

33,455

139,153

134,828

EXPENSES:

Interest

(8,357)

(9,565)

(33,927)

(39,035)

Base management fee

(5,018)

(5,377)

(19,757)

(20,922)

Incentive fee on income

(3,370)

(3,131)

(12,145)

(12,494)

Incentive fee on capital gains

(2,763)

—

(2,763)

—

General and administrative

(827)

(992)

(4,337)

(4,416)

Internal administrative services expenses

(182)

(2,935)

(701)

(10,089)

Total expenses before expense waivers

(20,517)

(22,000)

(73,630)

(86,956)

Waiver of internal administrative services expenses

—

2,772

—

9,450

Total expenses, net of expense waivers

(20,517)

(19,228)

(73,630)

(77,506)

NET INVESTMENT INCOME BEFORE TAXES

14,399

14,227

65,523

57,322

Excise tax expense

(270)

(281)

(510)

(851)

Federal and state income and other tax expenses

(1,007)

(389)

(3,260)

(2,590)

NET INVESTMENT INCOME (5)

13,122

13,557

61,753

53,881

NET REALIZED GAIN (LOSS):

Control investments

—

90

5,305

147

Affiliate investments

8,639

(3,560)

6,320

(3,560)

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

7,999

(4,556)

(21,128)

19,189

Total net realized gain (loss)

16,638

(8,026)

(9,503)

15,776

NET UNREALIZED APPRECIATION (DEPRECIATION):

Control investments

(2,481)

202

(9,495)

4,833

Affiliate investments

5,088

6,625

17,548

7,791

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

(2,065)

2,390

28,375

(28,063)

Total net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

542

9,217

36,428

(15,439)

Income tax benefit (provision) on net realized gain (loss) and net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)

(267)

5,714

50

2,335

NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS

$             30,035

$             20,462

$             88,728

$             56,553

NET INVESTMENT INCOME BEFORE TAXES PER SHARE—BASIC AND DILUTED

$                  0.31

$                  0.35

$                  1.41

$                  1.43

NET INVESTMENT INCOME PER SHARE—BASIC AND DILUTED (5)

$                  0.28

$                  0.34

$                  1.33

$                  1.34

NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS PER SHARE—BASIC AND DILUTED

$                  0.64

$                  0.51

$                  1.91

$                  1.41

WEIGHTED-AVERAGE SHARES

OUTSTANDING—BASIC AND DILUTED

46,923,388

40,232,637

46,497,019

40,174,311

MSC INCOME FUND, INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

December 31,
2025

December 31,
2024

ASSETS

Investments at fair value:

Control investments

$                   58,372

$                   69,878

Affiliate investments

406,771

351,360

Non–Control/Non–Affiliate investments

870,244

756,269

Total investments

1,335,387

1,177,507

Cash and cash equivalents

20,635

28,375

Interest and dividend receivable

12,273

11,925

Deferred financing costs

3,190

1,985

Prepaids and other assets

9,546

4,254

Deferred tax asset, net

—

625

Total assets

$              1,381,031

$              1,224,671

LIABILITIES

Credit Facilities

$                 453,000

$                 415,688

Series A Notes due 2026 (par: $150,000 as of both December 31, 2025 and 2024)

149,751

149,453

Accounts payable and other liabilities

3,549

4,723

Interest payable

5,946

6,909

Dividend payable

16,772

14,487

Base management and incentive fees payable

8,388

8,508

Deferred tax liability, net

4,966

—

Total liabilities

642,372

599,768

NET ASSETS

Common stock

47

40

Additional paid–in capital

782,007

689,580

Total overdistributed earnings

(43,395)

(64,717)

Total net assets

738,659

624,903

Total liabilities and net assets

$              1,381,031

$              1,224,671

NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE

$                      15.85

$                      15.53

MSC INCOME FUND, INC.

Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Investment Income and Adjusted Net Investment Income Before Taxes

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Three Months Ended

Year Ended

December 31,

December 31,

2025

2024

2025

2024

Net investment income (5)

$             13,122

$             13,557

$             61,753

$             53,881

Incentive fee on capital gains (3)

2,763

—

2,763

—

Adjusted net investment income (1)

15,885

13,557

64,516

53,881

Excise tax expense

270

281

510

851

Federal and state income and other tax expenses

1,007

389

3,260

2,590

Adjusted net investment income before taxes (2)

$             17,162

$             14,227

$             68,286

$             57,322

Per share amounts:

Net investment income per share -

Basic and diluted (5)

$                 0.28

$                 0.34

$                 1.33

$                 1.34

Adjusted net investment income per share -

Basic and diluted (1)

$                 0.34

$                 0.34

$                 1.39

$                 1.34

Adjusted net investment income before taxes per share -

Basic and diluted (2)

$                 0.37

$                 0.35

$                 1.47

$                 1.43

MSC INCOME FUND, INC.
Endnotes

(1)

ANII is NII as determined in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP, excluding the impact of the capital gains incentive fee(3). MSC Income believes presenting ANII and the related per share amount is useful and appropriate supplemental disclosure for analyzing the Fund's financial performance since the calculation of the capital gains incentive fee is based on realized gains and losses and unrealized fair value appreciation and depreciation, none of which are included in NII. However, ANII is a non-U.S. GAAP measure and should not be considered as a replacement for NII or other earnings measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should be reviewed only in connection with such U.S. GAAP measures in analyzing MSC Income's financial performance. A reconciliation of NII in accordance with U.S. GAAP to ANII is detailed in the financial tables included with this press release.

(2)

ANII before taxes is NII as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding the impact of any tax expenses included in NII and the capital gains incentive fee(3). MSC Income believes presenting ANII before taxes and the related per share amount is useful and appropriate supplemental disclosure for analyzing the Fund's financial performance since (i) the calculation of the capital gains incentive fee is based on realized gains and losses and unrealized fair value appreciation and depreciation, none of which are included in NII, and (ii) tax expenses included in NII may include (a) excise tax expense, which is not solely attributable to NII, and (b) deferred taxes, which are not payable in the current period. However, ANII before taxes is a non-U.S. GAAP measure and should not be considered as a replacement for NII, NII before taxes or other earnings measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should be reviewed only in connection with such U.S. GAAP measures in analyzing MSC Income's financial performance. A reconciliation of NII in accordance with U.S. GAAP to ANII before taxes is detailed in the financial tables included with this press release.

(3)

Pursuant to the amended advisory agreement effective upon the MSC Income Listing, the incentive fee on capital gains is determined and payable to the Fund's investment adviser (the "Adviser") in arrears, if any, as of the end of each calendar year. This fee equals (a) 17.5% of the Fund's incentive fee capital gain, which is calculated as the Fund's (i) cumulative net realized gains (net of any related net income tax expense), minus (ii) cumulative unrealized depreciation (net of any related income tax benefit, and excluding any unrealized appreciation), minus (b) the aggregate amount of any previously paid capital gains incentive fee, in each case from the MSC Income Listing date through the applicable calendar year ended. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, at the end of each reporting period, the Fund estimates the capital gains incentive fee and accrues the fee based upon a hypothetical liquidation of its investment portfolio at the then current fair value. Therefore, the calculation of the accrual equals (a) the Fund's cumulative change in net fair value, including both (i) the cumulative net realized gain/loss and (ii) the cumulative net unrealized appreciation/depreciation (in both cases, net of any related cumulative net income tax expense or benefit), minus (b) the aggregate amount of any previously paid capital gains incentive fee, in each case from the MSC Income Listing date through the applicable period ended. However, any capital gains incentive fee accrued related to the unrealized appreciation is neither earned nor payable to the Adviser until such time that it is realized, and assuming at the end of a calendar year such incentive fee capital gain exists excluding any cumulative unrealized appreciation (in each case, net of any related net income tax expense or benefits). For the fourth quarter of 2025, the Fund accrued a capital gains incentive fee of $2.8 million. For further discussion, see Note J Related Party Transactions and Arrangements in the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of the Fund's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 27, 2026.

(4)

Return on equity equals the net increase in net assets resulting from operations divided by the average quarterly total net assets.

(5)

NII for each period in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 necessary to present the comparable amounts for the year ended December 31, 2025 have been revised to include the impact of excise tax and NII related federal and state income and other tax expenses previously included within the total income tax provision. This correction was determined to be immaterial to any impacted prior periods and had no impact on net increases in net assets resulting from operations or the related per share amounts.

(6)

Portfolio company financial information has not been independently verified by MSC Income.

(7)

These credit statistics exclude portfolio companies on non-accrual status and portfolio companies for which EBITDA is not a meaningful metric.

(8)

No information contained on the Fund's website or disclosed on the February 27, 2026 conference call, including the webcast and the archived versions, is incorporated by reference in this press release or any of the Fund's filings with the SEC, and you should not consider that information to be part of this press release or any other such filing.

Contacts:
MSC Income Fund, Inc.
Dwayne L. Hyzak, CEO, [email protected]  
Cory E. Gilbert, CFO, [email protected]   
713-350-6000

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations
Ken Dennard / [email protected]  
Zach Vaughan / [email protected]  
713-529-6600

SOURCE MSC Income Fund, Inc.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diversified Energy Company (NYSE:DEC, LSE: DEC) (“Diversified” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that the Board has declared an interim dividend of 29 cents per share in respect of 4Q25 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2025.

The financial technology company's profit guidance for the fiscal third quarter – which overlaps with peak tax season – came in short of Wall Street's expectations.

Significant Revenue Growth Delivers Higher than Expected Full-Year Net-Income and Adjusted EBITDA that Beat Guidance 

23% Annualized Improvement in Leverage Ratio, While Also Returning Over $185 Million to Shareholders Through Dividends and Strategic Share Repurchases

2026 Guidance Reflects Confidence in the Business's Stability and Cash Generation Through Commodity Cycles

Celebrating Our 25th Anniversary Year with the Completion of our Milestone of Primary Listing on the NYSE, US Incorporation, and Filing of Full Year GAAP Financials

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diversified Energy Company ("Diversified", "DEC", or the "Company") (NYSE: DEC, LSE: DEC) is pleased to announce its financial and operational results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2025, reporting performance that exceed expectations and key strategic and financial achievements. 

Delivering Reliable Results and Strategic Growth

Fourth Quarter 2025 Results

Production exit rate(a):  1,254 MMcfepd (209 Mboepd)   Average production: 1,198 MMcfepd (200 Mboepd)  Total Revenue: $667 million Net Income: $196 millionAdjusted EBITDA(b): $254 million Operating Cash Flow: $182 million Adjusted Free Cash Flow(c): $152 million after $7 million of transaction costs   Full Year 2025 Results

Average production: 1,086 MMcfepd (181 Mboepd) Total Revenue: $1,829 million Net Income: $342 millionAdjusted EBITDA(b): $956 millionOperating Cash Flow: $465 million Adjusted Free Cash Flow(c): $440 million after $55 million of transaction costs  Capital Expenditures: $185 million  Financial and Operational Metrics  4Q254Q24YoY
% ChangeFY25FY24YoY
% ChangeProduction(Mmcfe/d)1,19884342%1,08679137%Production volume mix      Natural gas72%85% 75%84% NGLs14%12% 13%12% Oil14%3% 12%4% Total Revenue(millions)$667$591,031%$1,829$757142%Net Income (millions)$196$(106)285%$342$(103)432%Adj. EBITDA(b)(millions)$254$13983%$956$470103%Adj. Free Cash Flow(c)(millions)$152$53187%$440$210110%        Financial Strength and Shareholder Returns

Current Liquidity(d): $577 million of credit facility availability and unrestricted cash ABS principal reduction: Retired $277 million in principal amount outstanding under certain ABS facilities during 2025Leverage ratio(e): 2.3x as of YE2025; ~23% improvement from YE2024  Consolidated debt consists of ~73% in non-recourse ABS securities Shareholder returns: Over $185 million returned via dividends and repurchases(f)  Shareholder return yield(f) of ~18%~7.3 million shares repurchased (~10% of outstanding shares), totaling ~$100 million(f) New Board authorized share repurchase program for up to 7,800,000 shares (~10% of shares outstanding) 4Q25 dividend: $0.29 per share declared Strategic Execution and Transformational Growth

~$2B of Transformational Acquisitions - Maverick Natural Resources & Canvas Energy: Enhances Diversified’s stature as a leading consolidator of established cash-generating energy assets

Positions Diversified as a differentiated business, offering ~$1.2 billion of Pro-Forma Adjusted EBITDA(g), over 1.2 Bcfepd of low decline production, multi-basin commodity diversification, and a strong hedging program that promotes consistent free cash flowsAcquisitions helped deliver over 100% growth in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash FlowIntegration playbook from 30+ acquisitions and counting allowed for upsized synergy capture of over $60 million on Maverick Natural Resources and over $20 million on Canvas Energy Carlyle Partnership Continues to Bolster Growth Prospects

Strategic partnership to invest up to $2 billion in existing U.S. proved developed producing (PDP) oil and gas assets strengthens outlook and conviction on ability to close accretive transactions, while preserving capital flexibility and liquidityCanvas Energy marked the inaugural transaction and funding from the Carlyle strategic partnership Non-Op Platform Provides Additional Lever for Value Generation

New Permian Basin joint development program with a private operator in the Northwest Shelf adds additional optionality to Non-Op platformPermian partnership included upfront proceeds to DEC for land and working interests, and well-by-well election supporting capital flexibility        Oklahoma Joint Development Partnership continues to produce and estimated over 60% IRRs with 114 wells drilled under the JDA in the last 3 yearsAdding incremental production that offsets an estimated ~50% of natural decline (2026 estimated avg. ~10,800 BOEpd) annually across two partnershipsSuperior capital intensity of less than 15% ($140 million capital spend(h)) for Non-Op Partnerships Unlocking Value Through Portfolio Optimization 

Our Portfolio Optimization Program ("POP") realized ~$160 million from non-core asset and leasehold divestituresOur POP highlights optionality in DEC’s portfolio to monetize our vast acreage position via Non-Op Partnerships or leasehold divestituresGenerated ~$9 million of cash flow from environmental credits related to Coal Mine Methane (CMM) in 2025 Mountain State Plugging Fund & Next LVL Energy

Groundbreaking partnership to establish the nation’s FIRST financial assurance fund dedicated to retirement of DEC owned wells (~21,000) in the state of West Virginia; represents ~25% of total gross well countAdded additional capacity in Appalachia through purchase of CSR Services that increases Next LVL to a total of ~25 pole rigsPermanently retired 484 wells, including 386 Diversified wells  Since establishment of Next Level in 2022, Diversified has retired ~1,400 wells  Rusty Hutson, Jr., CEO of Diversified, commented: 

“I am grateful to our Diversified employees who delivered an incredible 2025 performance and, measured by most metrics, produced the best operational and financial results in our history. We are pleased to report that these results exceeded the upwardly revised guidance range for Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow, demonstrating once again our culture of execution and accountability. Importantly, with the robust cash flow generated from our assets, we reinforced our proven performance with $277 million in systematic debt reduction, $185 million in combined dividends and share repurchases, and approximately $2 billion in accretive acquisitions for the year.

Our 2026 guidance reflects continued disciplined growth, portfolio optimization, and strong free cash flow generation as we look to unlock additional shareholder value from our high-quality assets. I am very excited about the future of Diversified. Both our team and our portfolio of assets are aligned with powerful megatrends: power generation, data centers, and LNG export. Our unique business model, underpinned by our organizational culture of focused execution to GSD (Get Stuff Done), will enable us to capitalize on these trends and drive long-term shareholder value.

For 25 years we have been in the business of stepping up when others step away. As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, our core beliefs and values upon which the company was founded have not wavered. We have pioneered a strategy of acquiring, operating, and optimizing established energy assets that has allowed us to transform one company's divestiture into our consistent cash flow. Today, we are the single largest operator of established producing wells in the United States, a responsibility we take very seriously, and we maintain a track record of delivering innovation, operational excellence, and results every day.

We were the underdogs, but now we are proven, and we are just getting started."

Operations and Finance Update 

Fourth Quarter Production 

The Company recorded exit rate production as of December 31, 2025 of 1,254 MMcfepd (209 Mboepd)(a) and delivered 4Q25 average daily production of 1,198 MMcfepd (200 Mboepd). The Company's production volume mix was approximately 72% natural gas, 14% natural gas liquids ("NGL's"), and 14% oil, with approximately 65% of production volumes from the Central region and 35% from Appalachia for the fourth quarter. Production for the quarter continued to benefit from Diversified’s peer-leading, shallow decline profile.

2025 Production 

The Company recorded average daily production of 1,086 MMcfepd (181 Mboepd). The Company's production volume mix was approximately 75% natural gas, 13% natural gas liquids ("NGL's"), and 12% oil.

Fourth Quarter Margin and Total Cash Expenses per Unit 

Diversified delivered 4Q25 per unit revenues of $4.35/Mcfe(i) ($26.10/Boe) and Adjusted EBITDA Margin(b) of 55%. Notably, these per unit metrics reflect an increase in both revenues and expenses from the incorporation of greater liquids production following the Maverick Natural Resources acquisition. The Company’s per unit expenses are anticipated to improve as the Company implements its playbook to achieve long-term, sustainable synergies and cost savings. For example, General and Administrative expenses decreased during 4Q25 compared to prior period levels, despite the higher per unit costs of Maverick, supporting our progress on cost savings and synergy capture. 

2025 Margin and Total Cash Expenses per Unit 

Diversified delivered 4Q25 per unit revenues of $4.49/Mcfe(i) ($26.94/Boe) and Adjusted EBITDA Margin(b) of 58%.

 4Q254Q24 FY25FY24 $/Mcfe$/Boe$/Mcfe$/Boe $/Mcfe$/Boe$/Mcfe$/BoeAverage realized price(1)$4.08 $24.48$3.16 $18.96 $3.94 $23.64$3.05 $18.30Other revenue(2) 0.12  0.72 0.14  0.84  0.15  0.90 0.16  0.96Proceeds from divestitures(3) 0.15  0.90 0.29  1.74  0.40  2.40 0.14  0.84Total revenue and proceeds from divestitures, excluding Next Level Energy(4)$4.35 $26.10$3.59 $21.54 $4.49 $26.94$3.35 $20.10          Lease operating expense(5)$1.12 $6.72$0.83 $4.98 $1.12 $6.72$0.73 $4.38Production taxes 0.21  1.26 0.11  0.66  0.22  1.32 0.12  0.72Midstream operating expense 0.18  1.08 0.23  1.38  0.20  1.20 0.25  1.50Transportation expense 0.22  1.32 0.31  1.86  0.29  1.74 0.31  1.86Total operating expense(6)$1.73 $10.38$1.48 $8.88 $1.83 $10.98$1.41 $8.46Employees, administrative costs and professional fees(7) 0.29  1.74 0.32  1.92  0.26  1.56 0.30  1.80Adjusted Operating Cost per Unit(8)$2.02 $12.12$1.80 $10.80 $2.09 $12.54$1.71 $10.26Adjusted EBITDA Margin(9) 55%  53%   58%  50%  (1)   Total commodity revenue, including settled derivatives.
(2)   Total midstream and other revenue, excluding Next Level Energy revenue.
(3)   Proceeds from divestitures represents cash proceeds related to asset optimization
(4)   Total revenue and proceeds from divestitures related to asset optimization, excluding Next Level Energy revenue.
(5)   Total lease operating expense, excluding Next Level Energy lease operating expense.
(6)  Total operating expense, excluding Next Level Energy lease operating expense.
(7)   Total employees, administrative costs, and professional fees, excluding Next Level Energy. These costs include payroll and benefits for our administrative and corporate staff, costs of maintaining administrative and corporate offices, costs of managing our production operations, franchise taxes, public company costs, fees for audit and other professional services, and legal compliance.
(8)   Adjusted Operating Cost per Unit excludes lease operating expense and employees, administrative costs and professional fees attributable to Next Level Energy.
(9)   Adjusted EBITDA Margin represents adjusted EBITDA, as a percentage of total revenue, excluding (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives.  

Share Repurchase Program 

For the fiscal year 2025 and year-to-date 2026, the Company has repurchased 8,320,400(j) shares, representing approximately 11% of the shares outstanding.

The Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the Company to repurchase up to 7,800,000 shares (~10% of the shares outstanding, including shares held by the Employee Benefit Trust "EBT"). The board believes this new authorization provides the Company ample opportunity to strategically repurchase shares. This new authorization replaces the previously announced share repurchase plan and authorizes the repurchase of our shares through March 1, 2027.

Repurchases of shares under the program may be made, from time to time, in privately negotiated transactions, in open market transactions, or by other means, including through trading plans intended to qualify under Rule 10b-18 and/or Rule 10b5-1 of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The amount and timing of any repurchases made under the program will be in the Company’s sole discretion and will depend on a variety of factors, including legal requirements, market conditions, other investment opportunities, available liquidity, and the prevailing market price of the common shares. The program does not obligate the Company to repurchase any dollar amount or number of shares, and the program may be suspended or discontinued at any time at the Company’s discretion.

2026 Outlook 

The Company is presenting its Full Year 2026 guidance. Following the recently completed acquisitions Diversified expects to realize continued significant operational synergies associated with a larger, consolidated position in Oklahoma, additional cash generation from its portfolio optimization program, and the ability to continue to improve the overall cost structure of its established producing assets while continuing to prioritize returns and Free Cash Flow generation. 

 2026 Guidance(1)Total Production(Mmcfe/d)1,170 to 1,210% Liquids~28%% Natural Gas~72%Total Capital Expenditures(millions) Non-Op JV Partnership$135 to $155Maintenance/Other$70 to $80Adj. EBITDA(b)(millions)$925 to $975Adj. Free Cash Flow(c)(millions)~$430Leverage Target2.0x to 2.5x   (1) Includes the value of anticipated cash proceeds for 2026 asset optimization of ~$100 million; based on January 2026 strip prices. Excludes changes in cash from working capital. Does not incorporate recently announced Sheridan Production acquisition. The Company includes Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow in the Company’s Full Year 2026 Outlook. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are non-GAAP financial measures and have not been reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because it is not possible to do so without unreasonable efforts due to the uncertainty and potential variability of reconciling items, which are dependent on future events and often outside of management’s control and which could be significant. Because such items cannot be reasonably predicted with the level of precision required, we are unable to provide an outlook for the comparable GAAP measures.

Conference Call Details 

The Company will host a conference call Friday, February 27, 2026, at 8:30 AM ET to discuss the full year 2025 results and will make an audio replay of the event available shortly thereafter. 

US (toll-free)  +1 877-836-0271/+1 201-689-7805 UK (toll-free)  +44 (0)800 756 3429 Web Audio https://www.div.energy/news-events/ir-calendarevents Replay Information https://ir.div.energy/financial-info     Footnotes: 

(a) Exit rate includes full month of December 2025 production. (b) Adjusted EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxes, depletion, and amortization, and includes adjustments for items that are not comparable period-over-period; Adjusted EBITDA Margin represents Adjusted EBITDA as a percent of Total Revenue, Inclusive of Hedges settled in cash; For more information, please refer to the Non-GAAP reconciliations as set out below. (c) Adjusted Free Cash Flow represents net cash provided by operating activities less expenditures on natural gas and oil properties and equipment, and includes proceeds from divestitures related to asset optimization; For more information, please refer to the Non-GAAP reconciliations as set out below. (d) Liquidity as of February 25, 2026, including impact of $200M Nordic bond tap.(e) “leverage” or “leverage ratio,” is measured as net debt divided by pro forma adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025. Reconciliation table is provided in the appendix of this release.(f) Includes the total value of dividends paid and declared, and share repurchases (including by the Employee Benefit Trust) through December 31, 2025. Shareholder Return Yield is calculated using total value of dividends paid and declared, and share repurchases (including by the Employee Benefit Trust) through December 31, 2025 over market cap as of December 31, 2025(g) Includes adjustments for the three months ended December 31, 2025 for the Canvas acquisition to pro forma results. Similar adjustments were made for the three months ended December 31, 2024 for the East Texas II acquisition as well as for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 for the Canvas, Maverick, Summit, and Williams acquisitions. (h) Capital Intensity defined as capital expenditures on non-operated drilling programs over adjusted EBITDA(i) Includes the impact of derivatives settled in cash and proceeds from divestitures related to asset optimization. For purposes of comparability,  excludes Other Revenue of $2 million in 4Q25, $5 million in 4Q24, $12 million in 2025, and $16 million in 2024, and Lease Operating Expense of $4 million in 4Q25, $5 million in 4Q24, $15 million in 2025, and $19 million in 2024 associated with Diversified’s wholly owned plugging subsidiary, Next LVL Energy. (j) Includes total share repurchases (including by the Employee Benefit Trust) from January 1, 2025 through February 26, 2026.    For Company-specific items, refer also to the Glossary of Terms and/or Alternative Performance Measures found in the Company’s Annual Report and Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Company’s website. 

For further information, please contact: 

Diversified Energy Company+1 973 856 2757Doug [email protected] Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communicationswww.div.energyFTI [email protected]. & UK Financial Public Relations    About Diversified Energy Company 

Diversified is a leading publicly traded energy company focused on acquiring, operating, and optimizing cash generating energy assets. Through our unique differentiated strategy, we acquire established assets and invest in them to improve environmental and operational performance until retiring those assets in a safe and environmentally secure manner. Recognized by ratings agencies and organizations for our sustainability leadership, this solutions-oriented, stewardship approach makes Diversified the Right Company at the Right Time to responsibly produce energy, deliver reliable free cash flow, and generate shareholder value. 

Forward-Looking Statements 

This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations, business and outlook of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which contain the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “seek”, “continue”, “aim”, “target”, “projected”, “plan”, “goal”, “achieve”, “guidance”, "outlook" and words of similar meaning, reflect the Company’s beliefs and expectations and are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company’s present and future business strategies and the environment the Company will operate in and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. No representation is made that any of these statements or forecasts will come to pass or that any forecast results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as general economic and business conditions, the behavior of other market participants, industry trends, competition, commodity prices, changes in regulation, currency fluctuations, our ability to recover our reserves, our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, our ability to obtain financing to meet liquidity needs, changes in our business strategy, political and economic uncertainty. The list above is not exhaustive and there are other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, Including the risk factors described in the “Risk Factors” section in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Forward-looking statements speak only as of their date and neither the Company nor any of its respective directors, officers, employees, agents, affiliates or advisers expressly disclaim any obligation to supplement, amend, update or revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, except where it would be required to do so under applicable law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements in this announcement, may not occur. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Past performance of the Company cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. No statement in this announcement is intended as a profit forecast or a profit estimate and no statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that the financial performance of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published for the Company. 

Use of Non-GAAP Measures 

Certain key operating metrics that are not defined under GAAP ("non-GAAP" measures) are included in this announcement. These non-GAAP measures are used by us to monitor the underlying business performance of the Company from period to period and to facilitate comparison with our peers. Since not all companies calculate these or other non-GAAP metrics in the same way, the manner in which we have chosen to calculate the non-GAAP metrics presented herein may not be compatible with similarly defined terms used by other companies. The non-GAAP metrics should not be considered in isolation of, or viewed as substitutes for, the financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Certain of the key operating metrics are based on information derived from our regularly maintained records and accounting and operating systems. 

Adjusted EBITDA & Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA 

As used herein, EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxes, depletion, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA includes adjusting for items that are not comparable period-over-period, namely, finance costs, accretion of asset retirement obligation, other (income) expense, (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled financial instruments, (gain) loss on natural gas and oil property and equipment, (gain) loss on sale of equity interest, unrealized (gain) loss on investment, costs associated with acquisitions, other adjusting costs, loss on early retirement of debt, non-cash equity compensation, (gain) loss on interest rate swaps, and items of a similar nature.

Adjusted EBITDA and pro form adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating profit or loss, net income or loss, or cash flows provided by operating, investing and financing activities. However, we believe such measure is useful to an investor in evaluating our financial performance because it (1) is widely used by investors in the natural gas and oil industry as an indicator of underlying business performance; (2) helps investors to more meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations from period to period by removing the often-volatile revenue impact of changes in the fair value of derivative instruments prior to settlement; (3) is used in the calculation of a key metric in one of our Credit Facility financial covenants; and (4) is used by us as a performance measure in determining executive compensation. When evaluating this measure, we believe investors also commonly find it useful to evaluate this metric as a percentage of our total revenue, inclusive of settled hedges, producing what we refer to as our adjusted EBITDA margin. 

The following table presents a reconciliation of the GAAP financial measure of net income (loss) to the non-GAAP measure of adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods listed: 

 Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended(in thousands)December 31, 2025December 31, 2024 December 31, 2025December 31, 2024Net income (loss)$195,552 $(106,193) $341,899 $(103,093)Interest expense 55,082  37,167   209,967  136,801 Accretion of asset retirement obligations 19,182  7,805   48,607  28,464 Other (income) expense(1) (993) (2,009)  (1,977) (1,257)Income tax (benefit) expense 1,471  (128,932)  (40,550) (144,845)Depreciation, depletion and amortization 154,076  95,511   412,506  291,995 (Gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives (201,964) 202,124   (193,843) 189,030 (Gain) loss on natural gas and oil properties and equipment(2) 21,273  16,689   86,730  14,917 Costs associated with acquisitions 3,629  4,532   35,724  11,573 Other adjusting costs(3) 3,636  7,644   19,424  22,375 Loss on early retirement of debt —  2,469   26,971  16,377 Non-cash stock-based compensation 3,037  2,258   10,398  8,286 (Gain) loss on interest rate swaps (30) (41)  (135) (190)Total adjustments$58,399 $245,217  $613,822 $573,526 Adjusted EBITDA$253,951 $139,024  $955,721 $470,433 Pro forma adjusted EBITDA(4)$281,558 $140,431  $1,211,214 $546,694  Excludes  $0.2 million, $0.4 million, $1.3 million, and $1.1 million in dividend distributions received for our investment in DP Lion Equity Holdco during the three months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, and the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024,respectively. Includes $16 million, $23 million, $160 million, and $41 million in cash proceeds received for leasehold sales during the three months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, and the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.Other adjusting costs for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025 were primarily associated with one-time personnel-related expenses and legal fees from certain litigation. Other adjusting costs for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024 were primarily associated with legal and professional fees.Includes adjustments for the three months ended December 31, 2025 for the Canvas acquisition to pro forma results. Similar adjustments were made for the three months ended December 31, 2024 for the East Texas II acquisition as well as for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 for the Canvas, Maverick, Summit, and Williams acquisitions and for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 for the Oaktree, Crescent Pass, and East Texas II acquisitions.  Net Debt & Net Debt-to-Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA 

As used herein, net debt represents total debt as recognized on the balance sheet less cash and restricted cash. Total debt includes our borrowings under the Credit Facility, borrowings under or issuances of, as applicable, our subsidiaries’ securitization facilities, and other borrowings. We believe net debt is a useful indicator of our leverage and capital structure. 

As used herein, net debt-to-pro forma adjusted EBITDA, or “leverage” or “leverage ratio,” is measured as net debt divided by pro forma adjusted EBITDA. We believe that this metric is a key measure of our financial liquidity and flexibility and is used in the calculation of a key metric in one of our Credit Facility financial covenants. 

The following table presents a reconciliation of the GAAP financial measure of total debt to the non-GAAP measure of net debt and a calculation of net debt-to-pro forma adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods listed: 

 As of (In thousands)December 31, 2025 December 31, 2024 Total debt(1) 2,952,014  1,704,931 LESS: Cash 29,697  5,990 LESS: Restricted cash(2) 115,413  46,269 Net debt$2,806,904 $1,652,672      Pro forma adjusted EBITDA(3)$1,211,214 $546,694 Net debt-to-pro forma adjusted EBITDA(4)2.3x
3.0x
Includes adjustments for deferred financing costs and original issue discounts, consistent with presentation on the statement of financial position. The increase of restricted cash as of December 31, 2025, is due to the addition of $21 million, $27 million, and $10 million in restricted cash for the ABS X Notes, ABS Maverick Notes, and ABS XI Notes, respectively, offset by $4 million for the retirement of the ABS I & II Notes. Includes adjustments to pro forma results for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 for the Canvas, Maverick, Summit, and Williams acquisitions and for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 for the Oaktree, Crescent Pass, and East Texas II acquisitions. Does not include adjustments for working capital which are often customary in the market. Free Cash Flow & Adjusted Free Cash Flow

As used herein, free cash flow represents net cash provided by operating activities ("operating cash flow"), less expenditures on natural gas and oil properties and equipment and adjusted free cash flow represents free cash flow after adjusting for proceeds from divestitures related to asset optimization. We believe that free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow are useful indicators of our ability to generate cash that is available for activities beyond capital expenditures. We believe that free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow provide investors with an important perspective on the cash available to service debt obligations, make strategic acquisitions and investments, and pay dividends. 

The following table presents a reconciliation of the GAAP financial measure of operating cash flow to the non-GAAP measure of free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow for each of the periods listed: 

 Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended(in thousands)December 31, 2025December 31, 2024 December 31, 2025December 31, 2024Operating cash flow$182,240 $45,304  $464,619 $220,650 LESS: Capital expenditures (47,100) (14,398)  (184,600) (52,100)Free cash flow$135,140 $30,906  $280,019 $168,550 ADD: Proceeds from divestitures 16,467  22,501   160,098  40,986 Adjusted FCF$151,607 $53,407  $440,117 $209,536 
Total Revenue, Excluding (Gain) Loss on Fair Value Adjustments of Unsettled Derivatives & Adjusted EBITDA Margin 

As used herein, total revenue, excluding (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives, represents total revenue less (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives. We believe that total revenue, excluding (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives, is useful because it enables investors to discern our realized revenue after adjusting for derivative settlements.

As used herein, adjusted EBITDA margin is measured as adjusted EBITDA, as a percentage of total revenue, excluding (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives. Adjusted EBITDA margin encompasses the direct operating costs and the portion of general and administrative costs required to produce each Mcfe. This metric includes operating expense, employee costs, administrative costs and professional services, and recurring allowance for credit losses, which cover both fixed and variable cost components. We believe that adjusted EBITDA margin is a useful measure of our profitability and efficiency, as well as our earnings quality, because it evaluates the Company on a more comparable basis period-over-period, especially given our frequent involvement in transactions that are not comparable between periods. 

The following table presents a reconciliation of the GAAP financial measure of total revenue to the non-GAAP measure of total revenue, excluding (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives, and a calculation of adjusted EBITDA margin for each of the periods listed: 

 Three Months Ended Year Ended(in thousands)December 31, 2025December 31, 2024 December 31, 2025December 31, 2024Total revenue$666,520 $58,578  $1,829,142 $757,290 (Gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives (201,964) 202,124   (193,843) 189,030 Total revenue, excluding (gain) loss on fair value adjustments of unsettled derivatives$464,556 $260,702   1,635,299  946,320 Adjusted EBITDA$253,951 $139,024  $955,721 $470,433 Adjusted EBITDA margin 55% 53%  58% 50%

Sentiment and network activity are both pointing in the wrong direction today for Dogecoin investors.

The world's largest meme cryptocurrency was on a nice short-term run. That is, until today.

Dogecoin (DOGE 6.50%) dropped 7.6% over the past 24 hours, as of 1:45 p.m. ET, eating into the impressive gains this token saw in yesterday's session. With Dogecoin now back below the psychologically important $0.10 level, some investors are clearly wondering where this token is headed from here.

Today's Change

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-6.50

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-0.01

Current Price

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0.10

That's a fair perspective. Let's dive into what's moving Dogecoin in this session and where this meme coin could be headed in the medium- to long-term.

Why the sentiment shift?

Source: Getty Images.

Risk assets are getting hit across the board today, with yesterday's welcome reversal rally giving way to bearish sentiment that clearly hasn't abated. As a leading meme coin, Dogecoin is often viewed as one of the most important sentiment gauges right now. Indeed, most market participants aren't viewing digital assets with the "party on" mentality that described so much of the post-pandemic era.

Instead, metrics of greed/fear continue to hover around yearly lows, with today's reading still in the "extreme fear" end of the spectrum at 16/100. Obviously, a reversal on this front could have a massive impact on the likes of Dogecoin and its meme-oriented peers, though we may still have to wait a little longer to see anything robust materialize.

One of the key drivers that has become more apparent to me among what I see as a divergence of performance among specific tokens is Dogecoin's uncapped supply. While the Dogecoin team has pushed token burns to minimize new token issuance, we haven't seen the kind of burns take hold as expected. In fact, we've seen an absolute surge in the number of new DOGE tokens hitting the market over the past month, something I think investors are growing concerned about.

I think these catalysts, in combination with active addresses and other key metrics declining from previous surges, could prompt speculators, traders, and investors to seek alternatives in the digital asset space. Until we see a reversal of both sentiment and activity, Dogecoin is one of the most sensitive assets to these bearish trends and could see continued downside for the foreseeable future.

Chris MacDonald has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.