
To find the total number of outstanding shares, follow these steps:
- Go to the balance sheet of the company in question and look in the shareholders' equity section, which is near the bottom of the report.
- Look in the line item for preferred stock. This line refers to a special class of shares that gives investors certain privileges, such as a periodic dividend. ...
- Look in the line item for common stock. This is the main class of stock that is issued to investors. ...
- Look in the line item for treasury stock. This line refers to shares that have been bought back from investors; if the corporation has never done so, then there will ...
- Add together the numbers of preferred and common shares outstanding, and subtract the number of treasury shares. The result is the total number of shares outstanding.
How do you find common stock outstanding on a balance sheet?
All companies are required to report their common stock outstanding on their balance sheet. The easiest way to calculate the number is to simply look it up. Do that by navigating to the company's investor-relations webpage, find its financial reporting, and opening up its most recent 10-Q or 10-K filing.
Where can I find shares issued in financial statements?
This can often be found in a company's financial statements, but is not always readily available -- rather, you may see terms like "issued shares" and "treasury shares" instead. Besides, it can be helpful to understand where the numbers you're looking at came from.
Where is common stock included on the income statement?
Common stock is included on the income statement as well as the balance sheet. The income statement of a business includes the expenditures and general costs related to the company's revenues. On the last line of the statement, the total amount earned or lost by the company over a given time period is given.
What does the number of shares of common stock outstanding Mean?
The number of a company’s shares of common stock outstanding is the number of shares that investors currently own and has a direct effect on your ownership interest as a stockholder in the company.

How do you find common shares outstanding on financial statements?
The number of outstanding shares can be found on a company's most recent quarterly or annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), usually on its balance sheet in the shareholders' equity section.
Where is common stock outstanding on the balance sheet?
Common stock outstanding is defined as the shares of common stock that have been issued minus any shares of common stock known as treasury stock. The number of shares of common stock outstanding is shown in the stockholders' equity section of the balance sheet.
Where can I find issued and outstanding shares?
To calculate the exact number of outstanding shares, you can subtract the number of issued shares from treasury shares. In the balance sheet of a company, you can find the outstanding shares listed under Capital Stock.
How do you find common stock from assets and liabilities?
Subtract a company's liabilities from its assets to get your stockholder equity. Find the common stock line item in your balance sheet. If the only two items in your stockholder equity are common stock and retained earnings, take the total stockholder equity and subtract the common stock line item figure.
Is shares outstanding the same as shares issued?
The key difference between issued vs outstanding shares is that Issue shares is the total shares that are issued by the company to raise the funds. Whereas, outstanding shares are the shares available with the shareholders at the given point of time after excluding the shares which are bought back.
What are shares outstanding shares?
Not to be confused with authorized shares, outstanding shares refer to the number of stocks that a company has issued. This number represents all the shares that can be bought and sold by the public, as well as all the restricted shares that require special permission before being transacted.
How many shares of common stock are outstanding?
Shares outstanding is the total number of shares issued and actively held by stockholders. Floating stock is the result of subtracting closely-held shares from the total shares outstanding to provide a narrower view of a company's active shares.
What is outstanding stock?
What are Outstanding Shares? Outstanding shares represent the number of a company’s shares that are traded on the secondary market and, therefore, available to investors. Outstanding shares include all restricted shares.
How to find floating shares?
The number of floating shares is found by taking the number of shares outstanding minus closely-held shares – a large number of shares that are held by one party, be it an individual or a small group of controlling shareholders, such as officers or directors of the company.
What is the difference between a fully diluted and a basic number of shares outstanding?
The basic number of shares outstanding is simply the current number of shares available on the secondary market, where as the fully diluted shares outstanding calculation takes into account diluting securities such as convertibles ( warrants.
What is the right of a common stockholder?
Shareholders of common stock typically possess the right to participate in annual shareholders meetings and contribute toward the election of the company’s board of directors. The number of shares outstanding increases when a company issues additional shares or when employees exercise stock options.
What is a stock warrant?
Stock Warrants Stock warrants are options issued by a company that trade on an exchange and give investors the right (but not obligation) to purchase company stock at a specific price within a specified time period.
What is authorized stock?
Authorized Shares Authorized shares, or authorized stock, are simply a legally allowed maximum number of shares that a company can issue to investors. The number of authorized shares is specified in the company’s articles of incorporation. You can also see the number in the capital accounts. Market Capitalization.
What is reacquired stock?
Treasury Stock Treasury stock, or reacquired stock, is a portion of previously issued, outstanding shares of stock which a company has repurchased or bought back from shareholders. These reacquired shares are then held by the company for its own disposition.
What happens to the number of shares of a company?
The number of a company’s shares of common stock outstanding is the number of shares that investors currently own and has a direct effect on your ownership interest as a stockholder in the company . If the number of shares outstanding rises due to a company issuing additional shares, your percentage ownership will fall.
What is an issued stock?
Issued shares are the shares that the company has sold to investors, which includes the shares outstanding and shares it has repurchased as treasury stock. For example, assume a company has 10 million shares issued. 00:00.
Why do companies buy back shares?
A company may buy back shares if it believes its shares are undervalued or to reduce its number of outstanding shares. In this example, assume the company has 1 million shares of treasury stock. Subtract the number of shares of treasury stock from the number of issued shares to calculate the number of common shares outstanding.
What happens to your percentage of stock ownership if the number decreases?
If the number decreases, your percentage ownership will increase. A company typically lists its number of shares of common stock outstanding directly on its balance sheet in its “Stockholders’ Equity” section. If it doesn’t, you can calculate the number based on other information provided on the balance sheet.
Why is it important to know what common stock is outstanding?
This figure is important because it's used to translate a company's overall performance into per-share metrics, which can make an analysis much easier to do in terms of a stock's market price at a given time.
What is the outstanding stock?
The outstanding stock is equal to the issued stock minus the treasury stock. All companies are required to report their common stock outstanding on their balance sheet. The easiest way to calculate the number is to simply look it up.
What does it mean when you buy stock?
When you buy stock in a company, you are buying a percentage ownership in that business. How much of the business your one share buys depends on the total common stock outstanding, a figure you can easily determine using the company's balance sheet. What common stock outstanding means, and why you should care.
What is the life of common stock?
The life of common stock goes through a few phases, and understanding each step is important for putting the common-stock-outstanding number into proper perspective. First, the board of directors authorizes the company to issue a certain number of shares. That initial figure is appropriately called "authorized" stock.
What happens when a company buys back its own stock?
When a company buys back its own shares, that stock is accounted for as "treasury stock" on the company's balance sheet.
What does the number of outstanding shares mean?
The number of outstanding shares is always less than or equal to the number of issued and authorized shares. The number of issued shares refers to the shares a company has issued to-date out of the maximum number of shares authorized by its board.
What happens if a company retires its shares?
However, if it retires the shares after repurchasing them, the company would reduce the number of issued shares. For example, if the company has issued 1 million shares, then repurchases and retires 100,000 shares, the new number of issued shares would be 900,000.
How does a stock split affect the balance sheet?
Stock splits increase the number of issued and outstanding shares on a company's balance sheet. For example, a 2-for-1 stock split would double the number, while a 3-for-2 stock split would increase it by 50 percent. The company may have to increase the number of authorized shares after a stock split.
Why do companies increase their earnings per share?
Companies do this to increase their earnings per share, as the same amount of earnings is spread out over a smaller number of shares, resulting in earnings-per-share "growth.".
Why do you have to check your balance sheet?
But because a balance sheet is a snapshot of a company's financials at a particular moment in time, and because the number of shares often makes frequent changes, you'll have to check back regularly if you want up-to-date share counts.
What is basic shares outstanding?
Basic shares outstanding are a company’s total number of shares available for trading in the stock market. It is the number of shares that have been authorized and issued to investors, which can be both institutions and individuals. It is important to always start with the company’s most recent filing when sourcing the basic shares outstanding.
What is Treasury Shares?
Treasury shares are shares that had been issued but later bought back by the company as part of any share repurchases. The number of treasury shares held by companies is reported in the treasury stock account.
What is diluted stock?
Diluted shares include the effect of contracts or products the company has issued, which could result in new shares being issued in the future. The basic shares outstanding is the starting point when calculating the diluted shares outstanding.
What is the bottom line of an income statement?
The bottom line of the income statement indicates how much the company earned or lost over the period. The equation for an income statement looks like this: Net Income equals revenue minus expenses plus gains minus losses.
What is earnings per share?
Earnings per share represent the amount of earnings related to one share of common stock. There are two types of earnings per share: basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share (which include the impact of stock options, grants and convertible bonds).
What is the difference between a balance sheet and an income statement?
The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the financial condition of the company on a specific day ( usually December 31), where as the income statement reports the amount of revenue a company earned over a specific time period (usually for a year). Common stock is reported on both the balance sheet and the income statement.
What is income statement?
The income statement is one of the four financial statements used by businesses when reporting the financial condition of their company. The four include: the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of owner’s equity and the statement of cash flows. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the financial condition ...
How to calculate EPS?
To calculate EPS, the total net income is divided by the number of outstanding shares of the company.
