Ticker Symbol

A ticker symbol is the short letter code an exchange assigns to a listed security so it can be quoted and traded without spelling out the company name every time. US symbols run from one to five letters: AAPL for Apple, KO for Coca-Cola, GOOGL for Alphabet's class A shares.

The letters are not arbitrary trivia. NYSE-listed companies traditionally used one to three letters and NASDAQ four, though that convention has blurred, and a suffix can carry real meaning: a trailing letter can flag a different share class, preferred stock, or a company in bankruptcy proceedings.