Outstanding Shares

Outstanding shares

Shares that are currently owned by investors.

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Shares Outstanding

The number of shares an issuing entity, such as a publicly-traded company, has not repurchased and that are available for trade by the general public. This is sometimes known as collection float or float.

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Outstanding shares. The shares of stock that a corporation has issued and not reacquired are described as its outstanding shares. Some of but not all these shares are available for trading in the marketplace.

A corporation's market capitalization is figured by multiplying its outstanding shares by the market price of one share. The number of outstanding shares is often used to derive much of the financial information that's provided on a per-share basis, such as earnings per share or sales per share.

However, some analysts prefer to use floating shares rather than outstanding shares in calculating market cap and various ratios.

Floating shares are the outstanding shares that are available for trading as opposed to those held by founding partners, in pension funds, employee stock ownership plans (ESOP), and similar programs.

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Outstanding Shares

What Does Outstanding Shares Mean?

Stock currently held by investors, including restricted shares owned by the company's officers and insiders, as well as those held by the public. Shares that have been repurchased by the company are not considered outstanding stock. Also referred to as issued and outstanding if all repurchased shares have been retired.

Investopedia explains Outstanding Shares

Outstanding shares are shown on a company's balance sheet under the heading “Capital Stock” and are more important figures than the authorized shares or float numbers. Outstanding shares are used to calculate several metrics, including market capitalization and earnings per share (EPS).

Related Terms:
• Capital Structure
• Diluted Earnings per Share—Diluted EPS
• Float
• Fully Diluted Shares
• Market Capitalization