The stock market might seem like a complicated place with many numbers and unfamiliar terms, but it becomes much easier to follow once you understand what these terms mean.
Whether you’re a young investor or just someone curious about how stocks work, knowing the basic terms can help you make better decisions and feel more confident. In this article, we’ll break down some key stock market terms in a simple, easy-to-understand way so that you can start your financial journey with the right knowledge.
When you look at information about a company’s stock, you might see a lot of numbers and terms that seem confusing. Don’t worry! Let’s break down what they mean, one by one.
1. Market Cap (Market Capitalization)
- What It Means: This is the total value of all the shares of a company that are being traded on the stock market.
- Example: If a company has 10 crore (100 million) shares and each share costs ₹10, then the Market Cap is ₹100 crore (10 crore shares × ₹10 per share).
2. Current Price
- What It Means: This is the price of one share of the company’s stock at the moment.
- Example: If the Current Price is ₹418, it means you need ₹418 to buy one share of this company.
3. High / Low
- What It Means: These are the highest and lowest prices of the stock in the last year (52 weeks).
- Example: If the High is ₹471 and the Low is ₹231, it means the stock price went up to ₹471 at its highest and down to ₹231 at its lowest in the past year.
4. Stock P/E (Price to price-to-earnings ratio)
- What It Means: This tells you how much investors are willing to pay for each rupee of earnings the company makes.
- Example: A P/E ratio of 36.4 means that investors are paying ₹36.4 for every ₹1 the company earns. A higher P/E ratio might mean that investors expect the company to grow in the future.
5. Book Value
- What It Means: This is the value of the company’s total assets minus its liabilities, divided by the number of shares. It’s what each share would be worth if the company was liquidated (sold off all its assets).
- Example: If the Book Value is ₹101, it means each share would be worth ₹101 if the company were to sell all its assets.
6. Dividend Yield
- What It Means: This shows how much dividend a company pays out each year relative to its share price, expressed as a percentage.
- Example: A Dividend Yield of 0.48% means that for every ₹100 invested in the company’s stock, you would get ₹0.48 as a dividend.
7. ROCE (Return on Capital Employed)
- What It Means: This measures how efficiently a company is using its capital (money invested) to generate profits. It’s like finding out how much money the company makes from every rupee invested.
- Example: An ROCE of 11.1% means the company makes ₹11.10 for every ₹100 it uses.
8. ROE (Return on Equity)
- What It Means: This tells you how well a company is using the money that shareholders have invested to generate profits.
- Example: An ROE of 11.3% means the company makes ₹11.30 for every ₹100 invested by shareholders.
9. Face Value
- What It Means: This is the original cost of the share as written on the certificate when it was first issued.
- Example: If the Face Value is ₹1, it means the share was originally issued at ₹1.