Shares Outstanding

Returns the total number of shares outstanding for a company. This includes all shares held by shareholders, including restricted shares held by insiders.

Shares Outstanding vs Float

Metric Definition
Shares Outstanding All issued shares (restricted + unrestricted)
Float Only shares available for public trading

Common Uses

  • Market Cap Calculation: Market Cap = Price x Shares Outstanding
  • EPS Calculation: EPS = Net Income / Shares Outstanding
  • Ownership Percentages: Calculate what % an investor owns
  • Dilution Analysis: Compare to fully diluted shares

Notes

  • Shares outstanding changes with stock splits, buybacks, and issuances
  • Basic shares outstanding differs from diluted (which includes options, convertibles)

Examples

=Shares_Outstanding("AAPL")
Apple shares outstanding
=Shares_Outstanding("MSFT")
Microsoft shares outstanding
=Shares_Outstanding("TSLA")
Tesla shares outstanding
=Shares_Outstanding(A1)
Symbol from cell reference
=Shares_Outstanding("AAPL")/1000000000
Shares in billions

When to Use

  • Calculating market capitalization
  • Computing earnings per share
  • Analyzing dilution effects
  • Ownership structure analysis
  • Building financial models

When NOT to Use

Scenario Use Instead
Need tradeable shares FloatShares()
Need market cap directly MarketCapitalization()
Need diluted shares diluted_shares_outstanding()
Need historical shares hf_Shares_Outstanding()

Common Issues & FAQ

Q: What causes shares outstanding to change? A: Changes occur from:

  • Stock splits (increases shares, lowers price)
  • Stock buybacks (decreases shares)
  • New share issuances (increases shares)
  • Employee stock compensation (increases shares)

Q: What's the difference between basic and diluted shares? A: Basic shares = currently outstanding Diluted shares = outstanding + all potential shares from options, warrants, convertible securities

Q: How do I calculate market cap manually? A: =Last("SYMBOL") * Shares_Outstanding("SYMBOL")

Get Access to 1 Billion Usable Market data points IN YOUR EXCEL SHEETS WITH EASY TO USE EXCEL FUNCTIONS

Get started today
MarketXLS Excel Add-in Tutorial - How to Use Shares Outstanding and Other Financial Formulas
▶
How does MarketXLS work?

Related Functions