> for companies that pay no dividends ... there is no value at all in the stock outside of the stock price [but] the perception of the stock value is still tied

> for companies that pay no dividends ... there is no value at all in the stock outside of the stock price [but] the perception of the stock value is still tied to the performance of the company Owning a stock is like owning a fraction of a company. The value of stock comes from the following: (1) dividends (that is, a fraction of current profits) (2) assets (that is, a fraction of stuff the company has that could be sold; one of Warren Buffett's strategies is to buy companies that have more assets than their total stock price, such that merely liquidating the company would turn a profit.) (3) estimated future dividends (a company may not presently be paying dividends, but may be on a clear trajectory to profitability and therefore future dividends) (4) estimated future assets ("growth" type stocks are in companies that are investing profits in assets rather than paying out dividends. This has certain tax advantages over dividend-paying stocks.) (5) estimated future valuations (that is, guesses as to what others might pay for the stock later) Notice that only one of these involves perceptions of others' valuations. The rest are a matter of company performance.