# Market Cap 101: The Quick Way to Measure a Company's Size

Market cap = stock price × total shares outstanding. That's it.

Why it matters? It tells you how big a company actually is and helps investors sort them into buckets:

**Large-cap** ($10B+): Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia — stable, lower growth, often pay dividends

**Mid-cap** ($2B-$10B): The sweet spot — decent growth potential with moderate risk

**Small-cap** ($250M-$2B): Early-stage companies, higher upside but way more volatile

# # Quick Example
ABC Tech: 50M shares × $20/share = $1B market cap → classified as small-cap

# # The Catch?
Market cap only looks at stock price × shares. It completely ignores:
- Company debt (a $5B company with $3B debt is way different from a debt-free $5B company)
- Profitability
- Cash flow
- Growth prospects

So yeah, it's a useful first filter, but pair it with P/E ratios, debt levels, and earnings reports before making moves.

# # Top 10 by Market Cap (Sept 2024)
1. Apple — $3.52T
2. Microsoft — $3.18T
3. Nvidia — $2.96T
4. Google — $2.03T
5. Amazon — $1.95T

(Tesla sitting at #10 with $831B)

**Bottom line**: Market cap fluctuates daily with stock prices. Use it as a starting point, not your final answer.