Stock certificate

A stock certificate is a document that certifies ownership of a stated number of shares in a company, traditionally issued as an elaborately printed piece of paper but increasingly available only in electronic form today. A certificate typically shows the company's name, the shareholder's name, the number of shares represented, and a certificate number the company's transfer agent uses to track it.

Stock certificates were once the standard way investors proved ownership of their shares, and transferring stock meant physically signing over and delivering the certificate to the buyer. That process was slow, and a lost, stolen, or damaged certificate could create serious complications in proving ownership.

Today, most investors hold their shares in book-entry form rather than as physical certificates, whether through their broker in street name or directly with a company's transfer agent, since electronic records are far faster to transfer, cheaper to maintain, and eliminate the risk of losing a physical document. Some companies still offer investors the option to request a physical certificate, often more as a keepsake or gift than a practical necessity, but it typically comes with a fee and offers no advantage over holding the same shares electronically.