Market capitalization (redirected from Small capitalization)

Market capitalization

The total dollar value of all outstanding shares. Computed as shares times current market price. Capitalization is a measure of corporate size.

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market capitalization

The total value of all of a firm's outstanding shares, calculated by multiplying the market price per share times the total number of shares outstanding. For example, at a current price of $50 for each of its 20 million shares of outstanding stock, a firm has a market capitalization of $50 × 20 million, or $1 billion. Also called market value.

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Market capitalization. Market capitalization is a measure of the value of a company, calculated by multiplying the number of either the outstanding shares or the floating shares by the current price per share.

For example, a company with 100 million shares of floating stock that has a current market value of $25 a share would have a market capitalization of $2.5 billion.

Outstanding shares include all the stock held by shareholders, while floating shares are those outstanding shares that actually are available to trade.

Market capitalization, or cap, is one of the criteria investors use to choose a varied portfolio of stocks, which are often categorized as small-, mid-, and large-cap. Generally, large-cap stocks are considered the least volatile, and small caps the most volatile.

The term market capitalization is sometimes used interchangeably with market value, in explaining, for example, how a particular index is weighted or where a company stands in relation to other companies.