How to calculate outstanding shares

Every publicly traded company divides its ownership into a set number of shares and can sell those shares to raise money. Every stock it has sold but not repurchased is considered an outstanding share. The more outstanding shares there are, the smaller the fraction of ownership that each share represents. Stock options and warrants can also cause the number of outstanding shares to fluctuate. Stock options, for example, are often issued as compensation to employees and others with important connections to the company.

Moreover, the number of shares outstanding is extremely useful when monitoring how a company conducts its business, as things like stock splits also affect share numbers. Knowing a company’s number of shares outstanding is key when calculating critical financial metrics and determining share value as a portion of ownership. An https://marketresearchtelecast.com/financial-planning-for-startups-how-accounting-services-can-help-new-ventures/292538/ additional metric used alongside shares outstanding is a company’s “float,” which refers to the shares available for investors to buy and sell on the open market. Shares outstanding is a financial number that represents all the shares of a company’s stock that shareholders, including investors and employees, currently own.

Issued Shares

This options detail is always disclosed in annual 10-K filings, but is less frequently disclosed in quarterly 10-Q filings. Before we use this number to calculate market cap, let’s take a second to consider what this value actually means. For most people, this is all you need to know to understand market cap as a concept. As it turns out, this formula is technically correct, but it’s hiding significant complexity behind it.

Finally, outstanding shares are different than authorized shares, or the number of shares that a corporation is legally allowed to issue. Outstanding stocks are the shares that are actually already out on the market. At any moment in time, a corporation has a specific number of shares that it has authorized for sale, to individual or institutional investors. Outstanding shares are the total number of common stocks owned by investors.

When Should a Startup Raise Venture Capital?

Comparing BVPS to the market price of a stock is known as the market-to-book ratio, or the price-to-book ratio. If shares have been reserved through your company’s stock incentive plan (“SIP”) or a stock option pool, but not yet allocated to an individual, they are considered reserved shares. Shareholders own parts of a company through shares, which give them voting rights regarding company decisions.

Once you know how to calculate the outstanding shares, you can use this number to calculate a number of valuation metrics, or measures of a company’s performance and future earnings potential. As we’ve already seen, the number of a company’s outstanding shares can vary over time, sometimes fluctuating a great deal. A company could issue new shares, buy back shares, retire existing shares, or even convert employee options into shares. Once you locate the line item for preferred stock, take note of the total number of preferred shares outstanding. If you’re a market beginner, learning the ins and outs of stocks will help you get started trading, and making money.

The “Real” Formula for Market Cap

In the formulas above, the number of shares outstanding is equal to the number of issued shares minus the number of shares held in the company’s treasury. It is also equal to the float, which is shares available to the public and excludes any restricted shares or shares held by the company officers or insiders, plus any restricted shares. Another factor that causes the outstanding stocks of a company to fluctuate is the stock split. On the other hand, it will reduce if the company undertakes a reverse stock split. Usually, companies undertake stock splits in order to bring a company’s share price within the buying range of retail investors.

• Regardless of the reason for receiving shares, determining the value of shares received depends upon the number of shares outstanding and the value of the company.
• Shareholders own parts of a company through shares, which give them voting rights regarding company decisions.
• Dividing the number of shares to be purchased by the number of shares outstanding reveals the percentage of ownership that the investor will have in the business after the shares have been purchased.
• The cash value of the stock rewards may not be withdrawn for 30 days after the reward is claimed.
• Authorized shares are the number of shares a company is authorized to issue.

We do get asked occasionally which measure of ‘number of shares’ we use in the denominator to calculate ‘per share’ measures like EPS, DPS, BVPS etc. Common stock (or the equivalent “ordinary shares”) tickers make up about 61% of tickers. Market caps relate to companies, but stock tickers don’t always correlate one-to-one with a company. The cash value of the stock rewards may not be withdrawn for 30 days after the reward is claimed. SUP is a complete startup formation toolkit, including your own legal portal, automated document generation, our proprietary cap tables, and SUP Academy, our exclusive online learning curriculum. Thousands of entry-level and experienced traders alike – day-traders and swing-trade small cap stock traders – credit Jeff with guiding them to turning small accounts into big accounts.

You can find the number of shares outstanding in the company’s quarterly or annual SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings. Shares outstanding are listed in the company’s balance sheet, as well, typically in the shareholders’ equity section. Preferred stock is a special class of shares that is generally considered a hybrid instrument, including properties of both a debt and equity instrument. Preferred stocks are higher ranking than common stock, but also subordinate to bonds in terms of claim, or rights to their share of the company’s assets.