Thus, line items on an income statement can be stated as a percentage of gross sales, while line items on a balance sheet ... vertical analysis, are also known as common-size financial statements ...

Common stock outstanding means all the shares of stock owned by investors and company insiders. The SEC requires this information to be shown on a company's balance sheet. When you buy stock in a ...

You can find information about a company's common stock in its balance sheet. Image source: Getty Images. Simply put, each share of common stock represents a share of ownership in a company.