Types of Stocks, Small Caps & Largest Market Caps

Level: Beginner · About 12 min · 7 slides

A stock is partial ownership of a company. Stocks are grouped by size (market cap), by style (growth, value, dividend, blue chip) and by share class (common vs preferred). This lesson also shows the tickers ADT watches and a dated snapshot of the largest US companies.

🔑 Key takeaways

• Market cap = shares outstanding × price. Large > $10B, mid $2–10B, small $300M–2B, micro < $300M.
• Smaller companies usually mean more growth potential and more volatility.
• Growth = fast earnings growth; value = cheap vs. earnings; dividend = income.
• Common shares vote; preferred shares get fixed dividends but usually no vote.
• Rankings and prices go stale fast. Always check a live source.

✅ Your homework

1. Look up the market cap of 5 stocks on the ADT watchlist and sort them into tiers.
2. Find one growth, one value and one dividend stock and write why.
3. Check today's top 10 US companies by market cap. What changed since Oct 1, 2025?
4. Add 3 liquid names from this lesson to your paper-trading watchlist.

📎 Resources

• companiesmarketcap.com or your broker's screener, for live market caps
• ADT Academy: https://americandreamtradingacademy.com