What is a market cap & how do you calculate it?

Shorthand for "market capitalization," market cap is one way an investor can evaluate how much a company is worth. Market cap refers to the total value of a publicly traded company's shares. To determine a company's market cap, simply multiply the share price by the number of shares outstanding. Here's Costco Wholesale ( NASDAQ:COST) as an example.

What is Costco market cap?

Market cap refers to the total value of a publicly traded company's shares. To determine a company's market cap, simply multiply the share price by the number of shares outstanding. Here's Costco Wholesale ( NASDAQ:COST) as an example. At recent prices, Costco shares sell for $521, with 441.52 million shares outstanding.

Is a company a small-cap or large-cap?

That means Company A has a market cap of $250 million, making it a small-cap company, whereas Company B has a market cap of $250 billion, meaning it's a particularly large, large-cap company—often called a mega-cap company. For starters, market cap can give you a general idea of where a company stands in the business development process.

What is the difference between market cap and market capitalization?

Market capitalization refers to the total dollar market value of a company's outstanding shares of stock. The investment community uses this figure to determine a company's size instead of sales or total asset figures. In an acquisition, the market cap is used to determine whether a takeover candidate represents a good value or not to the acquirer.