What is market capitalization?

Updated November 15, 2026 · examples use today’s data

Market capitalization is the total value the stock market puts on a company: share price × shares outstanding.

Real examples

Nvidia's market cap is about $3.92 trillion, Microsoft's about $3.89 trillion and Apple's about $5.18 trillion. Those three alone are worth more than the entire stock markets of most countries.

Large, mid and small caps

Roughly: large caps are above $10 billion, mid caps $2–10 billion and small caps below $2 billion. Smaller companies can grow faster but tend to be more volatile.

Market cap vs. enterprise value

Market cap ignores debt and cash. Enterprise value adds debt and subtracts cash, so it shows what it would cost to buy the whole business. Two companies with the same market cap can have very different enterprise values.

Frequently asked questions

Does a higher share price mean a bigger company?

No. A $500 stock can belong to a smaller company than a $50 stock; what matters is price times the number of shares.

Why does market cap change every second?

Because the share price does. The number of shares changes only slowly, through buybacks or new issues.

Tools for this

Largest US companies Top 30

Keep learning

What is the P/E ratio and how do you use it?What is earnings per share (EPS)?What does TTM (trailing twelve months) mean?What is an ETF and how is it different from a stock?What is a dividend and what is dividend yield?What is compound interest and why does it matter so much?

Educational content, not investment advice. Figures in the examples come from company filings and market prices and update automatically.