Treasury stock
Financial Accounting glossary · Stockholders' Equity
Definition
Repurchased shares held by the issuing company; a contra-equity account.
Treasury stock in plain English
Treasury stock is shares a company issued to the public and then bought back with its own cash. Companies do this to prop up the share price or to have shares ready for employee bonuses — think of a concert that sells tickets and later buys some back so fewer are floating around. Because owners' stake (equity) normally goes UP when shares are sold, buying them back does the opposite, so treasury stock is recorded as a 'contra-equity' account — a minus sign that reduces total equity. It's not an asset; you can't really 'own' a piece of yourself.
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