What is Market Capitalization?

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• published: 23 Apr 2015
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Welcome to the Investors Trading Academy talking glossary of financial terms and events. Our word of the day is “Market Capitalization”. Market capitalization is the total dollar market value of the shares outstanding of a publicly traded company; it is equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding. As outstanding stock is bought and sold in public markets, capitalization could be used as a proxy for the public opinion of a company's net worth and is a determining factor in some forms of stock valuation. The investment community uses this figure to determine a company's size, as opposed to sales or total asset figures. If a company has 35 million shares outstanding, each with a market value of $100, the company's market capitalization is $3.5 billion Company size is a basic determinant of asset allocation and risk-return parameters for stocks and stock mutual funds. The term should not be confused with a company's "capitalization," which is a financial statement term that refers to the sum of a company's shareholders' equity plus long-term debt. The stocks of large, medium and small companies are referred to as large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap, respectively. Investment professionals differ on their exact definitions, but the current approximate categories of market capitalization are: Large Cap: $10 billion plus and include the companies with the largest market capitalization. Mid Cap: $2 billion to $10 billion Small Cap: Less than $2 billion By Barry Norman, Investors Trading Academy