Share (stock)

A share is a certificate of ownership in a company. If you buy an Apple share, you own a tiny part of Apple – with all the rights and risks that come with it.

How do you make money with shares? In two ways: first through price gains – when the share rises in value and you sell it for more than you paid. Second through dividends – profit distributions that some companies pay to their shareholders regularly.

The risk: share prices fluctuate. Individual companies can go bankrupt. That's why experts recommend ETFs instead of individual shares for beginners – this way you spread your risk across hundreds of companies at once.

Example: anyone who bought €1,000 worth of Apple shares at the start of 2015 had approx. €8,500 at the end of 2024 – but with considerable fluctuations in between.