Learn the stock market › The stock market from zero › Lesson 3 of 9
How do stocks work?
One real year with 10 shares
The number of shares is the same all year. Only the price changes.
| Tesla | Day | Price | Value of 10 shares |
|---|---|---|---|
| A year ago | Nov 6, 2025 | $445.91 | $4,459 |
| Lowest | Jul 29, 2026 | $298.32 | $2,983 |
| Highest | Dec 16, 2025 | $489.88 | $4,899 |
| Latest | Nov 6, 2026 | $358.22 | $3,582 |
These are the prices that traded. Over the year the same holding was worth as little as $2,983, on Jul 29, 2026, and as much as $4,899, on Dec 16, 2025. None of that is money until you sell. The company is also the same company from one day to the next.
Three things a share gives you
A part of the profit. A company can pay out some of what it earns. You then get an amount per share, a dividend. It can also keep the money and grow with it.
A vote. Shareholders decide things at the shareholders' meeting, such as who sits on the board. With few shares your vote is small, but you have one. Some share classes carry more votes than others.
The right to sell. You can sell your share to someone else while the market is open, without asking the company. The price is whatever buyers will pay at that moment.
The company doesn't get your money
When you buy a share on the market, your money goes to the seller, not the company. The company got its money when the share was first issued. So today's price doesn't directly change what the company has in the bank, even though it can make raising new money easier or harder.
How this can turn into money for you is in the lesson on making money from stocks.
Test yourself
The price of your stock fell 10% today. What has happened to your share?
How has it gone since? How Tesla has moved.