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Share class

A separate series of a company's stock with its own rights, ticker, and often its own price, such as Class A versus Class B.

A company can issue more than one class of common-stock. Classes usually differ in voting-rights, sometimes in dividend entitlement, and occasionally in convertibility. Each listed class gets its own ticker-symbol, so the same company can show two different prices on your screen.

This matters mechanically. The classes rarely have identical liquidity, spreads, or options markets, and only one class is normally used for index-inclusion. Traders sometimes arbitrage a persistent gap between classes, but the gap can widen for years.

Example: Class A and Class B represent the same economics but Class B has ten votes per share. If A trades at $100 and B at $104, the market is paying a 4% premium for control, not for cash flow.

Related: dual-class-shares, voting-rights, super-voting-shares

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