Total Common Shares Outstanding (Historical)

Returns the historical number of common shares outstanding for a company. This is the total shares issued minus treasury shares, representing shares actually held by shareholders and available for trading.

Formula

Shares Outstanding = Total Shares Issued - Treasury Shares

Supported Symbols

Type Format Example
US Stocks SYMBOL AAPL, MSFT
ETFs SYMBOL SPY, QQQ
International SYMBOL SHOP, TSM

Parameters

Parameter Description
Symbol Stock ticker symbol
Year Fiscal year (2020, 2021) or period code (lq, ly, lt)
Quarter Optional: 1, 2, 3, or 4 for quarterly data
TTM Optional: Set to "TTM" for trailing twelve months

Uses of Shares Outstanding

Use Case Calculation
Market Cap Price x Shares Outstanding
EPS Net Income / Shares Outstanding
Book Value/Share Equity / Shares Outstanding

Notes

  • Share buybacks decrease shares outstanding over time
  • Stock issuances and splits increase shares outstanding
  • Used as denominator in most per-share calculations

Examples

=hf_Total_common_shares_outstanding("AAPL", 2023)
Apple shares outstanding
=hf_Total_common_shares_outstanding("MSFT", 2023, 2)
Microsoft Q2 2023
=hf_Total_common_shares_outstanding("GOOGL", "ly")
Alphabet last fiscal year
=hf_Total_common_shares_outstanding("AMZN", 2023, , "TTM")
Amazon TTM
=hf_Total_common_shares_outstanding(A1, B1, C1)
Cell references

When to Use

  • Calculating per-share metrics over time
  • Analyzing share buyback impact
  • Understanding dilution from stock compensation
  • Historical market cap calculations
  • Tracking capital structure changes

When NOT to Use

Scenario Use Instead
Need current shares Shares_Outstanding()
Need total issued shares hf_Total_ordinary_shares()
Need diluted shares hf_Share_Dilution_Ratio()
Need float shares FloatShares()

Common Issues & FAQ

Q: Why are Apple's shares decreasing over time? A: Apple has an aggressive share buyback program, reducing shares outstanding by billions over the years.

Q: Why did shares spike in a particular year? A: Could be from stock splits (not a real increase), acquisitions using stock, or large equity issuances.

Q: Why am I getting "NA"? A: Check that the symbol is valid and the company has reported share data for that period.

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MarketXLS Excel Add-in Tutorial - How to Use Total Common Shares Outstanding (Historical) and Other Financial Formulas
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