Outstanding Shares The number of a company’s shares that are traded on the secondary market and are available to investors
Basic and Diluted Shares Outstanding The number of shares outstanding can be computed as either basic or fully diluted. The basic number of shares outstanding is simply the current number of shares available on the secondary market. On the other hand, the fully diluted shares outstanding calculation takes into account diluting securities such as convertibles (warrants, options, preferred shares, etc.).
Therefore, if a company owns any diluting securities, that would indicate a potential increase in the number of shares outstanding in the future.