Recently, a friend asked me why Taiwanese stocks feel so expensive, while U.S. stocks are incredibly cheap.

Actually, there's a key reason behind this: the trading units are completely different.
Today, I want to talk with everyone about what exactly one share of stock is, and how the prices of one share and one lot are calculated.

Let's start with the most basic concept.
Stock price is the trading price of a share, representing how much money you need to buy or sell one share of stock.
This price fluctuates in real-time based on the matching of buy and sell orders in the market.
For example, if TSMC's stock price is 561 New Taiwan Dollars, that means the transaction price for one share of TSMC is 561 NT dollars.

So, what exactly is one share?
Simply put, a publicly listed company divides its ownership into multiple shares, and one share is the most basic unit.
The face value of a company's stock is usually fixed (most in Taiwan are 10 NT dollars), but the stock price varies based on company performance and investor expectations.
Therefore, to see how much one share is worth, you just look at the current market price.

Here, a fascinating difference appears.
The minimum trading unit in U.S. stocks is one share, but in Taiwan, there's a unique unit called "one lot."
One lot equals 1,000 shares, meaning buying one lot of stock is buying 1,000 shares.
This is why many people feel that investing in Taiwanese stocks has a high entry barrier.

For example, if TSMC's stock price is 561 NT dollars, then the price of one lot (1,000 shares) is 561 multiplied by 1,000, which equals 561,000 NT dollars—about 560k NT dollars.
To an ordinary retail investor, this amount isn't small.
In contrast, Tesla's stock price at a certain time might be $254 USD per share, so buying one share costs only $254 USD, which is just a few thousand NT dollars when converted.

Because of this, Taiwan later introduced fractional share trading, allowing retail investors to buy less than one lot (from 1 to 999 shares).
The liquidity of fractional trading is somewhat lower than full lots, but it greatly lowers the investment barrier, making it a good option for those who want to enter the stock market but have limited funds.

Many factors influence stock prices.
The company's fundamentals are the most important, including financial health, profitability, and growth prospects—good performance naturally attracts more investors.
Additionally, macroeconomic environment and national policies also impact stock prices.
Finally, market sentiment—investors' optimism or pessimism—can cause significant fluctuations in stock prices.

In summary, the biggest difference between U.S. stocks and Taiwanese stocks lies in the trading units.
U.S. stocks are traded in units of one share, while Taiwanese stocks mainly trade in lots of 1,000 shares.
This also results in a much higher entry barrier for full-lot trading in Taiwan compared to the U.S., but now Taiwan also offers fractional share trading, giving more people the opportunity to participate in the market.