I was going to answer this myself but I'd prefer to refer you to a more accurate source: http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/140.asp#axzz1Zt0XoSLt Essentially, they are the same thing but there are very minor differences in the usage of the two terms. These days, subtle differences are generally ignored. You can use plurals of both: i.e. "stocks" and "shares." In fact, the plural forms are the more common forms because very few people would own a single stock or share in a company because the return on investment would be too small. When a particular share value increases substantially, often the company will split the existing shares which increases the total number of shares but reduces the individual price per share. Other times, a company may engage in share repurchases.