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Plain-English guides to the ideas behind the ranking — what market capitalization is, how companies are measured, and how to make sense of the numbers.

FundamentalsWhat Is Market Capitalization? A Plain-English GuideMarket capitalization is a company's share price times its shares outstanding. Here's how it works, what it tells you, and what it leaves out.Read guide4 min
FundamentalsMarket Cap vs. Stock Price: Why a High Share Price Isn't 'Expensive'A $500 stock isn't pricier than a $50 stock — what matters is total market cap. Here's why share price alone tells you almost nothing about size.Read guide4 min
FundamentalsMega-Cap to Micro-Cap: The Market Cap Size Tiers ExplainedMega-, large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap describe company size by market value. Here are the common thresholds and what each tier tends to mean.Read guide4 min
ValuationMarket Cap vs. Enterprise Value: What's the Difference?Market cap values a company's equity; enterprise value adds debt and subtracts cash. Learn when each measure is the more useful lens.Read guide5 min
FundamentalsShares Outstanding vs. Float: What's the Difference?Shares outstanding counts every share a company has issued; float counts only those freely trading. Here's how they differ and why it matters.Read guide4 min
FundamentalsWhat Makes a Company's Market Cap Go Up or Down?Market cap moves with share price and share count — buybacks, issuance, and more. And why stock splits and dividends don't change it at all.Read guide4 min
MethodologyHow the MarketCapLens Ranking WorksHow we rank companies by market cap: which companies qualify, how share classes are combined, where the data comes from, and how often it updates.Read guide4 min