 When we look at the stockholders' equities section, we see some terms related to the numbers of shares of stock. They are authorized, issued, and outstanding. Let's learn what they mean because they are important. Authorized is the maximum number of shares that can be issued under a corporate charter. This is usually a large number, but even so, some companies have to amend their charter to be able to issue more stock. Issued is the number of shares sold to shareholders. Issued shares can never exceed authorized shares. Outstanding is the number of shares that stockholders own. Outstanding might be different than issued if a company has purchased Treasury stock. So issued stock minus Treasury stock is outstanding stock. Outstanding shares are the most important because only outstanding shares can receive dividends or vote for the Board of Directors.