Free Float
The portion of a company's shares that is freely available for public trading, excluding locked-up or restricted holdings.
What it is
Free float (or public float) is the number of shares actually available to ordinary investors in the market. It excludes shares held by insiders, founders, governments, and other long-term holders that are restricted or unlikely to trade. It is the slice of shares outstanding that genuinely changes hands.
Why it matters
A small free float means fewer shares trade, which can mean lower liquidity and sharper price swings on normal-sized orders. Free float also drives index weightings in float-adjusted indexes, and a low float relative to short interest can amplify price moves. The pitfall is assuming all outstanding shares are tradable when a large block is locked up.
How it's calculated
Subtract closely held and restricted shares (insiders, control blocks, locked-up holdings) from total shares outstanding.
How Quintarthai uses it
Insider and institutional holdings that affect float can be reviewed via the Insider tracker and 13F flow, with float-related metrics available across the company pages; start on a stock's deep-analysis page.