Shares of a publicly held company that are tradable by public investors (outsiders). In other words, it represents the number of outstanding shares a company has issued for public trading. Typically, this excludes shares held by insiders such as officers, directors, and other affiliates. The size of a float determines stock price volatility: for small floats, stock prices tend to be volatile (since a single large transaction could have a significant impact on the rest of outstanding shares and therefore the price of these shares. For large floats, stock prices tend to be less volatile and more stable.

Float is also referred to as public float.