Issued Shares

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Issued shares are the shares a company has actually sold or given to shareholders, including any it has later bought back and holds in treasury.

Issued shares sit between authorized shares and outstanding shares. Authorized shares are the maximum the company may issue. Issued shares are those it has actually issued. Outstanding shares are issued shares minus any treasury shares the company has bought back and still holds.

For example, a company with 60,000,000 issued shares that holds 5,000,000 in treasury has 55,000,000 shares outstanding.

The difference matters for calculations. Earnings per share, market capitalization and voting rights are based on outstanding shares, since treasury shares do not receive dividends or vote.

The number of issued shares changes when the company sells new shares, issues shares to employees, converts securities such as convertible bonds into shares or cancels shares it has bought back. Many companies cancel repurchased shares rather than holding them in treasury, which reduces issued shares directly.

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