Definition
The term market capitalization is used to describe the total value of a public company's shares of stock outstanding; this includes both common stock as well as preferred shares.
Calculation
Market Capitalization = Market Price per Share x Shares Outstanding
Explanation
Also known as market cap and MCAP, market capitalization is commonly used by investors to describe the size of a company. There are a number of categories used as market capitalization break points. Unfortunately, there isn't a standard definition for these cut off points. Suggested values for these categories appear below:
Large Cap: in excess of $10 billion
Mid Cap: between $1 and $10 billion
Small Cap: under $1 billion
Some financial institutions include more granular categories such as:
Mega Cap: in excess of $100 billion
Micro Cap: between $10 and $100 million
Nano Cap: under $10 million
Market price per share is used in the calculation of market capitalization; therefore, it's a measure of value assigned to the company by investors. As such, market cap takes into account factors such as earnings per share as well as the company's projected earnings growth rate.
Example
The current market price of Company A's common stock is $88.24. Company A has 693,000 shares of common stock outstanding. Company A has not issued shares of preferred stock. The market capitalization of Company A would be:
= $88.24 x 693,000, or $61,150,320