Learn the stock market › The stock market from zero › Lesson 1 of 9
What is a stock?
How small one share is
This is Apple at the close on Nov 6, 2026.
| Apple | Nov 6, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Shares in the company | 14,532,182,000 |
| Closing price | $342.37 |
| Market cap | $4.98 trillion |
| $1,000 buys | 2 shares |
| Your part of the company | 0.000000014% |
The number of shares times the price is what the market values the whole company at: $4.98 trillion. $1,000 buys 2 shares, which cost $684.74. That makes you an owner, though a very small one. Many brokers also sell fractions of a share, so you can start with less than one.
Why companies split into shares
A company needs money to grow. By splitting its ownership into many small pieces, it can raise money from many owners rather than borrow it all. The owners take a risk, and in return they share in what the company earns.
The split also makes ownership easy to pass on. An owner who wants out needs nothing from the company. They sell their shares to someone else, and that happens on the stock market.
What you own, and what you don't
You own a piece of the whole company, not one particular factory, store or phone. You can't walk in and collect your part. What you hold is a right to your share of whatever the company pays out, and usually a vote at the shareholders' meeting.
A stock can also lose value. If the company does very badly, the shares can become nearly worthless, and the money you put in is gone. On a share you paid for in full, you can't lose more than that. What owning a stock means day to day is in the lesson on how stocks work.
Test yourself
You own one share in a company with a billion shares. What do you own?
How is it doing? How Apple has moved.