Bid Price

The bid is one half of every stock quote. It shows the best price that any buyer in the market is currently offering. If you want to sell shares immediately with a market order, you will typically receive a price at or near the bid.

The other half of the quote is the ask, the lowest price a seller is willing to accept. The bid is always lower than the ask, and the gap between them is called the bid-ask spread.

Quotes often show a size next to the bid, which tells you how many shares buyers want at that price. A bid of $50.10 with a size of 500 means buyers are ready to purchase 500 shares at $50.10.

Example: a stock is quoted at $50.10 bid and $50.12 ask. If you sell 100 shares at market, you would expect to receive around $50.10 per share. If you instead place a limit order to sell at $50.12, you may get a better price, but there is no guarantee that a buyer will accept it.