Most expensive shares in India: highest share price

A share price is what one share cost at the latest close. It depends on how many shares a company has issued, so a company with few shares in issue has a high price per share without being large.

The page keeps every listed share whose latest exchange close is ₹5,000 or more and sorts them from the highest price down. A share drops out when its price falls below the cut-off. The list can be narrowed by sector or size.

Market cap is the share price times the number of shares, and it is the measure of a company's size. A share at ₹1,00,000 can belong to a company with a market cap of a few thousand crore, while a share at ₹5,000 can belong to one worth lakhs of crore. That is why market cap sits next to the price.

A stock split divides a share into smaller units and lowers the price. A bonus issue, which gives holders extra shares, has the same effect. A company that has done neither for decades, while its value grew, can carry a price in the tens of thousands of rupees. Returns here are adjusted for splits and bonuses, so a split does not show as a fall. Dividends are not added.

P/E is market cap divided by the profit of the last twelve months (four quarters, or two half years for a company that reports half-yearly) that belongs to the company's own shareholders. ROCE, return on capital employed, is operating profit after depreciation, leaving out other income and one-off items, as a percentage of net worth plus borrowings. Lease liabilities are not counted.