Difference Between Full Market Capitalization And Free Float Market Capitalization

There are two types of market capitalization that you could have. One is the total market capitalization, which is simply called market capitalization and the other is the free float market capitalization.

First, let us understand what is market capitalization.

Market capitalization is nothing, but the outstanding number of shares, multiplied by the current market price of a stock. For example, if a company has 2,00,000 outstanding shares and the price of the share is Rs 10, we could say that the outstanding market cap of the company is Rs 2 million.

Now, free float market capitalization is very different from full market capitalization and is normally lower then the later.

Free float market capital would exclude the following:

1) Shares that are locked in.

2) Shares that are held by the promoters.

3) Shares that have been acquired through Foreign Direct Investment route.

4) Shares that are held by the government.

Exchanges, normally decide the free float market capitalization by details submitted by companies with regards to the holding pattern of the companies.

Now, let us understand the difference between full market cap and free float capitalization of ACC. ACC has a free float market cap of Rs 12,683 crores, while the full market cap is around Rs 25,000 crores. So, it is safe to say that the amount of shares that are readily available for trading is almost half that of the full outstanding shares.

So, do we use free float or full market cap

While, earlier, full market cap was often used, these days free float is being used. When a company needs to takeover a company and delist, it might look at full market cap. It all depends on the need and the purpose of the data that you need.

Conclusion

The Goodreturns.in website provides free float market capitalization, which you can view readily. You can check our stock quotes for more details. For example, you can view any company details through the search box and check the free float market capitalization. An example of ACC market cap is given here.