News Details Home / News Details

Shares vs. Stocks: Understanding the Difference.

"Shares" and "stocks" are terms often used interchangeably, but they actually have slightly different meanings.

1. Stocks: In finance, "stocks" typically refers to the ownership certificates of a particular company. When a company goes public, it divides its ownership into shares, and each share represents a portion of ownership in that company. For example, if a company has issued 1,000 shares and you own 100 of them, you own 10% of that company.

2. Shares: "Shares" specifically refer to the units of ownership into which a company's stock is divided. So, if you own stocks in a company, you own shares of that company. The terms are essentially synonymous, but "shares" emphasizes the individual units of ownership.

In summary, while both terms are often used to describe ownership in a company, "stocks" refer to the ownership itself, while "shares" refer to the individual units of ownership.