Open any ticker page on the site and the right column shows a "Key Statistics" panel: market cap, P/E ratio, 52-week high and low, volume, average volume, dividend yield, EPS. Each abbreviation is doing real work — they're shorthand for very different questions about a company. This page walks through what each one measures, how it is calculated, and where it tends to fool people.
Market capitalisation
Formula: share price × total shares outstanding.
Market cap is the simplest measure of company size. It says "if you bought every share at the current price, this is what it would cost on paper." It is the quantity behind labels like "large-cap" (typically > ~$10B), "mid-cap" (~$2–10B), and "small-cap" (< ~$2B); cutoffs vary by index provider.
What it does well
Comparable size at a glance. A $400B company and a $400M company face very different liquidity, coverage, and volatility — knowing which side of that line a ticker is on changes how you should interpret everything else.
Where it misleads
- Cap is not enterprise value. A company with $10B in cash and $1B in debt is more "expensive" than its market cap suggests; one with $1B in cash and $10B in debt is less expensive at the same price. Enterprise value (market cap + debt − cash) is closer to "what would it cost to buy the whole business."
- Float matters. If insiders or a parent company hold most shares, the tradable float is much smaller than market cap implies — and so is real-world liquidity.
Earnings per share (EPS)
Formula: (net income − preferred dividends) ÷ weighted average shares outstanding.
EPS distils a company's bottom line into a per-share number. The site shows trailing twelve months ("TTM") — the four most recently reported quarters added together. Forward EPS, by contrast, is an analyst estimate of the next four quarters; the two are not interchangeable.
What it does well
EPS is the input for the most-watched ratio in equity analysis (P/E, below) and for measuring whether the same company is earning more or less per share over time.
Where it misleads
- Buybacks flatter EPS by shrinking the denominator without growing earnings. Rising EPS is not always rising profitability.
- "Adjusted" EPS excludes whatever the company decides is non-recurring. GAAP EPS is the comparable number across firms.
- One-off charges (writedowns, legal settlements) can produce a misleadingly low — or in their absence, misleadingly high — TTM number.
Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio
Formula: share price ÷ earnings per share.
P/E is the headline valuation metric. It answers "how many years of current earnings am I paying for one share?" A P/E of 20 means each share trades at 20× its annual EPS.
What it does well
P/E is comparable across companies in the same industry and across a company's own history. A retailer at 12× sits in a very different place than a software firm at 40×, but the difference is informative when you know what's "normal" for each sector.
Where it misleads
- Loss-making companies have negative or undefined P/E. The metric simply doesn't apply.
- Cyclical companies have low P/E at the top of the cycle (high earnings) and high P/E at the bottom — the inverse of intuition.
- Trailing vs. forward. A "low" P/E based on last year's blow-out earnings can mask a forward P/E that is much higher because earnings are expected to fall.
- Quality of earnings. Two companies at 18× P/E can be very different if one's earnings are stable subscriptions and the other's are project-based and volatile.
Dividend yield
Formula: annual dividend per share ÷ share price.
Dividend yield is the cash return a shareholder gets at today's price, expressed as a percentage. A stock at $100 paying $4 a year in dividends yields 4%.
What it does well
Direct comparison of income return across stocks, ETFs, and (loosely) bond yields. Useful when income is the actual goal.
Where it misleads
- "Yield trap." A yield rises automatically when the price falls. A 9% yield on a stock down 60% year-on-year is often a yield about to be cut, not a bargain.
- Dividend coverage. A high yield is only sustainable if the company actually earns enough to pay it. A payout ratio (dividends ÷ earnings) above 100% means the company is paying more than it earns.
- Total return ≠ yield. Two stocks at 3% yield can deliver very different total returns once price change is included.
52-week high and 52-week low
The highest and lowest prices reached in the past year of trading. Adjusted for splits and dividends in most data feeds.
Why it's watched
- Many traders treat the 52-week high as a psychological resistance level. Index inclusions and momentum strategies sometimes filter on it.
- The 52-week range is a simple volatility summary. A stock that has traded between $80 and $120 has had a different ride from one that has traded between $40 and $200.
- Where today's price sits within the range is a quick read on recent strength.
Where it misleads
It's a one-year window. A new 52-week high might still be far below an all-time high; a new 52-week low can be a fresh all-time low. Look at multi-year context — see how to read a stock chart for time-frame switching.
Volume and average volume
Volume is the number of shares traded in a given session. Average volume on a ticker page is typically the average daily volume over the past three months.
Why both are shown
- Today's volume vs. average is the cleanest read on whether something unusual is happening: a volume bar 3× the average usually has news attached.
- Average volume itself is a liquidity check. Thinly traded stocks have wider bid-ask spreads, and a single large order can move the price more than the news justifies.
Where it misleads
Volume is share count, not dollar value. Comparing 5M shares of a $5 stock against 5M shares of a $500 stock as if they represent equal "interest" is wrong by a factor of 100. Some platforms show a dollar-volume metric for this reason.
How the metrics fit together
Worked example: two software companies, both at $100 a share.
- Company A: market cap $50B, EPS $4, P/E 25, dividend yield 0%, average volume 5M, 52-week range $80–$120.
- Company B: market cap $5B, EPS $2, P/E 50, dividend yield 0%, average volume 200k, 52-week range $40–$140.
Same price, very different stories. Company A is a large, liquid, moderately valued name with a tight 12-month range. Company B is a small, thinly traded name at twice the earnings multiple, with a 12-month range that's roughly 2.5× wider in percentage terms. The price tag $100 is the least informative thing about either of them.
A practical checklist
When the Key Statistics panel loads for a new ticker, walk through them in this order:
- Market cap — what size company are we looking at?
- 52-week range and where price sits in it — recent narrative.
- Volume vs. average volume — is today unusual?
- EPS (TTM) and P/E — earnings and how much of them you are paying for.
- Dividend yield — only meaningful with payout context.
For the chart side of a ticker page, see how to read a stock chart and common technical indicators explained. ETF tickers like SPY and QQQ have their own quirks — see stocks vs. ETFs.
This page is general educational content and not investment advice. See the Disclaimer.