Note that the results of this calculator are most commonly used for calculating the Earnings Per Share (EPS). The inputs you’ll need for this calculation are located on the balance sheet. Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader.

How to Calculate the Number of Shares of Common Stock Outstanding

This is the calculated number of days from the beginning date to the ending date. Note that the date must fall within the selected beginning and ending dates, and it must be different from any and all other transaction dates. If two or more stock transactions occurred on the same date, please combine them into a single entry. Note that this date selection will need to come before all other dates selected in the remainder of the calculator.

How Are Weighted Average Shares Outstanding Used?

However, due to the fluctuations in share counts between reporting periods, the figure is typically expressed as a weighted average. Stock buybacks and new stock issuance are two methods for publicly-traded companies (post-IPO) to directly impact their number of outstanding shares. On a fully diluted basis, our company has a total of 180 million shares outstanding.

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So if you have a question about the calculator’s subject, please seek out the help of someone who is an expert in the subject. In order to save your entries for your next visit, you will need to create (or save an existing) data record under the Data tab common shares outstanding formula before closing or leaving this page. To edit a transaction, click its numbered Edit button to load the transaction into the form. Volatility profiles based on trailing-three-year calculations of the standard deviation of service investment returns.

It also raises the company’s earnings per share figure (EPS) since earnings are divided by a smaller number of shares. A share repurchase generates a higher income per share, making each share more valuable. From there, scroll down until you find the section in the 10-Q or 10-K called “Capital Stock.” All the details you need will be there. You’ll also see the various other stock categories, so don’t let that confuse you. One possible point of confusion we still need to mention is stock given to employees as compensation, typically in some combination of restricted stock, options, or equity grants. It excludes closely held shares, which are stock shares held by company insiders or controlling investors.

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• Issued shares include the stock a company sells publicly to generate capital and the stock given to insiders as part of their compensation packages.
• This “issued” stock can be less than the total authorized, but it can never be more.
• At the time, GE discussed plans to split into three companies and to divest from many businesses.
• Explore how corporations authorize and calculate issued shares through market cap and balance sheet methods.

For example, the difference between the number of shares currently outstanding and the number of shares fully diluted is comparatively likely to be significant for fast-growing technology companies. These companies aggressively fund their growth by using convertible debt and paying employees with stock incentives. By contrast, many older stalwart companies are likely to have a number of shares outstanding that matches its number of shares fully diluted. The weighted average number of shares is determined by taking the number of outstanding shares and multiplying it by the percentage of the reporting period for which that number applies for each period. In other words, the formula takes the number of shares outstanding during each month weighted by the number of months that those shares were outstanding.

• Restricted stock are shares that are owned by company insiders, employees and key shareholders that are under temporary restriction, and therefore cannot be traded.
• These may later appear in the form of a secondary offering, through converting convertible securities, or issued as part of employee compensation such as stock options.
• Note that you can edit or delete each entered transaction by selecting it from the list and clicking either the “Save Changes” or “Delete” button.
• A number of company activities can change its number of shares outstanding.
• These shares are not considered outstanding because they are not held by public or institutional investors.
• The number of shares outstanding in a company will often change due to a company issuing new shares, repurchasing shares, and retiring existing shares.

Why are Outstanding Shares Important?

A publicly traded company’s total number of shares outstanding can usually be found on exchange platforms and in the shareholder’s equity section of the company balance sheet. The number of issued and outstanding shares, which is used to calculate market capitalization and earnings per share, are often the same. The number of shares outstanding for a company is equal to the number of shares issued minus the number of shares held in the company’s treasury.

• A company with 100 million outstanding shares, but with 95 million held by insiders and institutions, will have a constrained float of only five million shares, impacting its liquidity.
• A company that announces a 2-1 stock split as of a certain date doubles its number of shares outstanding on that date.
• New share issues, the exercise of stock options, conversion, and cancellations through buybacks will change the figure.
• Therefore, to summarize the net impact on the earnings per share (EPS) line item, new stock issuances cause a company’s EPS to decline, whereas stock buybacks result in an artificially higher EPS.
• They determined that reducing their share count from nearly 8.8 billion to roughly 1.1 billion better aligned with this vision (1).