Why do stocks exist? How do they benefit the companies?

Money.

>>1028376
I'd guess so with pricey stocks, but what about them pennies? How much can they get out of it?

Stock represents an ownership interest in the company. Your car has a title. Your home has a deed. Your company has stock.

Stock doesn't benefit the company at all, other than serving as a convenient means of managing its ownership and providing ownership-based incentives and benefits to employees.

>>1028377

Company Valued at 100,000

10% stake = 10 shares of stock at 1000
or
10% stake = 1000 shares of 10
or
10% stake = 1000000000 of .00001

either way the owners sold 10k worth of stock.

They get a lot of money at the cost of splitting up ownership of their company and (if they so choose) issuing dividends.

>>1028385

>stock doesn't benefit companies

It raises capital, which is difficult for companies who cannot issue commercial paper.

>>1028385
Not entirely true. Companies issue public equity to raise money for projects. It does serve a purpose, but to the average joe who just uses it to bet on a company doing better or worse, you're basically right.

>>1028371

The stock buyers are literally giving their money to a company. The company is saying, "let us borrow this money and spend it on stuff we need to grow the company and be more successful, in the mean time you can ask for your money back at any time, AND if we do become more successful, we'll give you your original money back, plus some more"

make sense?

>>1028519
No. The company never gives you your money back unless they're doing a stock buyback program. The money you "make" is either dividends or someone else buying the stock from you when you sell it.