The stock symbol, also known as a ticker symbol, for Microsoft is MSFT. These symbols are used to look up current stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

What Does Microsoft Do?

Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide variety of software products. Its software products include operating systems, server applications, business solution applications, and software development tools. Microsoft Corporation also designs and sells hardware, like the Xbox 360 gaming system and Microsoft personal computer (PC) hardware products. The company operates five segments: Windows, servers and tools, business solutions, entertainment and gaming, and online services. More information about the company’s operations can be found at microsoft.com/about/companyinformation.

Understanding Stock Symbols

Every publicly traded company has a stock symbol, usually a two to four letter abbreviation that relates to the company name. Publicly traded companies are those which are not privately owned, but rather are owned by every investor who has purchased shares in the company. The symbols can be used for quick price checks on a variety of financial websites. Trading sites like scottrade.com and etrade.com are just a few examples of sites that share real-time stock quotes. These sites also offer more in-depth information about the company for those seeking to invest.

What Can I Learn from a Stock Symbol?

What you learn depends on where you enter the symbol. If a stock symbol is searched online, the results will include financial information websites like Google finance and Yahoo finance. The search results will also include articles, usually from financial publications, highlighting events that have affected or will affect the company’s value. If a stock symbol is entered on a website giving up-to-date quotes from the NYSE, the result will be the stock’s current trading price and any relevant news stories affecting the company.