Shares and stocks are often used interchangeably, but there is a slight difference between the two terms.

A share represents a unit of ownership in a company, while a stock refers to the total number of shares in a company that are available for purchase and sale in the stock market. In other words, shares are individual units of ownership in a company, while stocks represent the collective ownership of all shares in a company.

For example, if a company has issued 10,000 shares, then there are 10,000 units of ownership in that company that can be owned by investors. These individual units of ownership are called shares. The total number of shares that are available for purchase in the stock market is called the company’s stock.