Skip to main content
A share (also called a stock) is a small unit of ownership in a company. If a company has issued one million shares and you own one hundred, you own a tiny slice of that whole business.

​
Two ways a shareholder can earn

The price goes up

Buy a share at a lower price and sell it later at a higher one — the difference is your capital gain. But prices can fall too, so gains are never guaranteed.

Dividends

Some companies share part of their profit with shareholders as a cash payment.
You only lock in a gain or a loss when you sell. Until then, the value on your screen can still rise or fall.

​
A simple example

Imagine you buy 100 shares of a company at K9.50, investing K950. If the price rises to K11.00 and you sell, you receive K1,100 (before fees) — a K150 gain. If instead the price falls to K8.00 and you sell, you receive K800 — a K150 loss. The choice of when to buy and sell is yours.

Next: what dividends are

Learn how the second way of earning — dividends — works.
Education only — not financial advice. Investments carry risk; the value of investments can go down as well as up.