Market cap refers to the total value of a publicly traded company'due south shares. Shorthand for "market capitalization," market cap is one mode an investor tin can evaluate how much a company is worth.

To determine a company's marketplace cap, simply multiply the share cost by the number of shares outstanding.

Here'due southCostco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) as an example. At recent prices, Costco shares sell for $302.45, with 441.52 1000000 shares outstanding. In this case, $302.45 times 441.52 one thousand thousand equals a $133.54 billion market cap.

But why is market cap of import and how should you use it? It's one of the all-time measures of a publicly traded company'due south size, which can tell you lot a lot almost what to expect if you buy its stock.

  • Large companies tend to have more than stable and mature businesses, having proven themselves over time and weathered hard business organisation conditions to emerge stronger. However, the growth prospects for large companies can be limited considering they've already taken advantage of their primary opportunities to grow to their electric current size.
  • Smaller companies oftentimes accept more room to grow, just they are typically younger, with riskier concern models that haven't yet proved themselves. Their odds of failure can be college than those of larger companies, which presents added risk.

Hither's a quick breakdown of how market cap ranges are ofttimes segmented across companies of unlike sizes:

Type of Stock

Market Capitalization Range

Mega cap

More than than $200 billion

Large cap

$10 billion to $200 billion

Mid cap

$two billion to $10 billion

Pocket-sized cap

$300 million to $2 billion

Micro cap

$fifty meg to $300 million

Nautical chart by author.

In general, investors look at the market in the following three categories most frequently since these are the market cap categories well-nigh stocks tend to fall into.

What are large-cap stocks?

Large-cap stocks have market place caps of more than than $10 billion. Most of the best-known companies in the world are large caps, and these are typically the companies that have established themselves as the leaders in their industries. While many deal with the ups and downs of their industry's cycles, these are ofttimes the strongest companies and have proven capable of holding off competitive threats. Large caps are often where you'll discover the all-time dividend stocks. These large companies often generate more than cash than they need for the business and render that actress capital to investors in dividend payments.

Read more than nearly big cap stocks.

What are mid-cap stocks?

Mid-cap stocks accept marketplace caps between $2 and $10 billion, occupying the middle ground betwixt big and small companies. Mid-cap companies oft have made considerable progress in edifice up successful business models, and that gives their investors some stability and protection against the future challenges smaller companies may confront. Yet even with some track record, mid caps too may face up the daunting task of chirapsia out, or even disrupting, bigger and ameliorate-funded large-cap competitors to realize their own fiscal promise.

Non all mid caps are growth stocks. They may be companies that operate in a smaller niche without big growth prospects, or they may be former big caps that have declined due to changes in the competitive landscape or (as with many brick-and-mortar retailers) some manufacture disruption.

Read more about mid-cap stocks.

What are small-cap stocks?

Small-cap stocks are mostly defined equally having market place caps between $300 meg and $2 billion. Sometimes companies with market caps below $300 one thousand thousand are in this group, although most categorize those as micro-cap stocks. They are generally growth stocks or upstarts just getting their feet under them and looking to do something big. While minor-cap stocks have historically delivered above-average returns as a group, many fail to live up to expectations. Small-scale-cap stocks are more volatile than larger caps, meaning there is more risk of losses in the short term. These stocks are generally best owned as a diversified grouping, and for many years, in order to reduce those risks.

Read more than virtually small-scale-cap stocks.


How to utilise marketplace cap

Marketplace cap is helpful when evaluating a company's size. Just don't permit the market value of a visitor cause you lot to dismiss big- or fifty-fifty mega-cap stocks as "as well big to buy." The global economy is enormous, serving more than vii billion people and with a fast-growing middle class. A $10 billion company that serves a multi-trillion-dollar market can grow substantially.

Moreover, companies can deliver stiff per-share returns without expanding their market cap fast. Share repurchases that reduce the share count reward long-term investors with a bigger piece of the visitor, while dividends put money direct back into your pocket. These two things combined tin significantly reduce how much market cap needs to grow for investors to get in a higher place-average returns.

Conversely, companies -- often small caps that demand the cash -- may sell stock to fund growth, pay debt, or just continue the lights on. When this happens, it reduces -- dilutes -- how much of the company each share is worth. For example, if a company with 10 million shares bug and sells ane million new shares, 10% of your former disinterestedness now belongs to the new shareholders. The key here is to consider a visitor's history of share buybacks and dilution.

Well-nigh investors find that having a diversified portfolio that includes stocks of various market caps is best. It lets you tailor for the desired render and run a risk levels that meet your goals. If y'all want your portfolio to exist more stable, y'all'll want a bigger allocation of big-cap stocks. If your primary goal is to increase your portfolio's size as much possible over many years, yous'll likely want to ain more small- and mid-cap stocks.