Mega-cap

A mega-cap stock is a company with a market capitalization (total value of all its shares) of $200 billion or more. You'll hear this term when investors talk about the biggest, most established companies in the world—think household names that dominate their industries. Mega-caps matter because they're often considered safer investments due to their size and stability, though they typically grow more slowly than smaller companies. They also make up a huge chunk of major stock indexes, so their performance affects most people's investment portfolios. For example, if a tech giant worth $2.5 trillion is having a rough quarter, it might drag down the entire market.