If a company was an apple pie, a stock would be a slice of the pie. In short, a stock is a slice of a company. Everyone who owns a piece of a company has the right to share a portion of the profits of the company. This sharing comes in the form of dividends, which is usually a cash payout that a company pays to its owners on a regular basis, for example every quarter (every 3 months).
Many companies do not pay a dividend to their shareholders. This is either because the company is not profitable (ie. making money) or because it is reinvesting its profit to grow the business even more. Often young companies prefer to reinvest their profits and therefore do not pay a dividend.
In your great great grandfather’s time, investors used to get a piece of paper to prove that they purchased stocks in a company. Today, an investor gets nothing more than a digital confirmation of purchasing a stock, whether the investor trades through an investment advisor at a traditional broker or online using a discount broker.
Related Terms
A bond is nothing more than a debt. If you have forgotten your lunch and you borrow $20 from your friend, you owe them a debt. If you gave them a piece of paper indicating the amount of the debt, this piece of paper would be similar to a bond. Read more
The stock market encompasses all the people, companies and institutions buying and selling slices of publicly-owned companies and other securities. Read more
Spin-off is the term used to describe the creation of a new company from an existing company. When it occurs, shares of the newly created spin-off company can be distributed to the shareholders of the older company, or sold directly on the stock market. Read more
About The Author: Edouard
Edouard is a financial analyst at Hardbacon. He is responsible for compiling lists of securities that our users can find in the "Explore" section of the application.
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