Unissued stock definition

What is Unissued Stock?

Unissued stock is shares in a company that have been authorized for use, but which have never been issued. These shares cannot be used to cast votes in shareholder elections, nor are they entitled to receive dividends. The number of unissued shares is generally irrelevant to current shareholders, but could be a concern in the following two situations:

  • A large number of unissued shares indicates that the board of directors could potentially sell or otherwise issue a large number of additional shares without prior investor approval. Doing so could drastically reduce earnings per share, especially if earnings do not increase enough to offset the number of shares issued.

  • A small number of unissued shares limits the ability of the board of directors to sell more shares, or to declare a stock dividend or stock split.

Advantages of Unissued Stock

The main advantage of having a significant amount of unissued stock is that a company’s board of directors can use it on short notice to acquire another entity. This can be a major advantage when the Board needs to act quickly to complete an acquisition, since gaining permission from investors to increase the number of unissued shares can require an extended period of time.

Calculation of Unissued Stock

To calculate the amount of unissued stock, subtract the total number of shares outstanding from the total number of authorized shares, and also subtract the number of shares of treasury stock. For example, a business has 1,000,000 authorized shares, 100,000 shares outstanding, and 10,000 shares of treasury stock. The unissued stock is calculated as follows:

1,000,000 Authorized shares - 100,000 Shares outstanding - 10,000 Treasury shares
=  890,000 Unissued shares

Unissued stock has never even been printed on a stock certificate. It is more of a theoretical number of shares that could be issued, rather than an actual legal document.

Difference Between Unissued Stock and Treasury Stock

Unissued stock is not the same as treasury stock. Treasury stock is shares that have been bought back from investors. The amount of unissued stock is usually substantially greater than the amount of treasury stock held by a corporation.

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The Difference Between Authorized and Outstanding Shares