If they have had a loss exceeding their stock ( I asssume that is the stock repreenting their paid-in capital ), then the Company is , depending on the laws were it was constituted, in any of the states I mention in my answer.

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Note added at 2002-09-15 13:49:10 (GMT)
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Typo:\"representing\".Sorry.

If it's in a sentence, you can write it out as: "the net book value is -$20 million", but if it's at the bottom of a balance sheet, you just write "Total" or "Grand Total".
Accountancy uses two ways of showing a negative figure. The oldfashioned way is to add a minus sign before the figure, just like in primary school. However more creative and euphemistically inclined accountants will show a negative figure by putting it between parentheses.

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Note added at 2002-09-15 14:28:21 (GMT)
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Public apologies to Miguel! --- you\'re quite right, the company\'s below water level but I was just trying to put that into the clinical accounting language. But...(see also reply to John below)

The Wall Street Journal


The Value of Stock
A stock's value rises and falls depending on market conditions, investor perceptions and other factors. Tracking a Stock's Value
Cyclical Stocks
Timing It Right
Betting with the Odds
Making Money with Stocks







A stock doesn't have a fixed value. Instead, there are several ways to gauge its worth. Price is one measure, with higher prices indicating greater value. Return on investment, or what you get back, is another. The larger your return, the greater the stock's value. Some investors also look for consistency, or a history of strong performance and steady growth. And stocks can also be compared to each other, to assess which is a wiser investment.

TRACKING A STOCK'S VALUE
The peaks and valleys of one stock's price illustrate how value can change over time.

Year 2
Usually a stock climbs in price when the markets are strong, the company is well-managed and its products or services are in demand. When the three factors occur together, the increase can be rapid. Year 4
A stock's price generally moves up and down, even as it continues to increase in value overall. For example, stock market activity might decline, company management could change, or a competitor could introduce a popular new product. Year 5
Nothing ultimately dictates the highest price a stock can sell for. As long as people are willing to pay more for it, it will climb in value. But when investors unload shares or the market falls, prices can drop rapidly.




Year 10
Following a price collapse, a stock can recoup its value or continue to decline, depending on its internal strength and what the markets are doing. In this example, the price moved up and down for several years at about $100, the level it had reached several years before. Year 12
If a company is out of favor with its shareholders, has serious management problems or is losing ground to competitors, its value can collapse quickly even if the rest of the market is highly valued. That's what happened here. Year 14
However, strong companies can cope with dramatic loss of value and can rebound if internal changes and external conditions create the right environment and investors respond with renewed interest.





CYCLICAL STOCKS
Stocks don't act alike. One basic difference is how closely a stock's value, or price, is tied to the condition of the economy. Cyclical stocks are shares of companies that are highly dependent on the state of the economy. When things slow down, their earnings fall rapidly, and so do their stock prices. But when the economy recovers, earnings rise rapidly and these stocks recover. Airline and hotel stocks are typically cyclical: People tend to cut back on travel when the economy is slow.

Stocks that pay dividends regularly are known as
INCOME STOCKS,
while those that pay little or no dividend while reinvesting their profit are known as
GROWTH STOCKS

TIMING IT RIGHT
The trick to making money, of course, is to buy a stock before others want it and sell before they decide to unload. Getting the timing right means you have to pay attention to:

The rate at which the company's earnings are growing
Competitiveness of its product or service
The existence of new markets
Management strengths and weaknesses
The overall economic environment in which a company operates
BETTING WITH THE ODDS
Investors who buy a stock believe other people will buy as well, and that the share price is going to increase. Investing is a gamble, but it's not like betting on horses. A long shot can always win the race even if everyone bets the favorite. In the stock market, the betting itself influences the outcome. If lots of investors bet on Atlas stock, Atlas's price will go up. The stock becomes more valuable because investors want it. The reverse is also true: if investors sell Zenon stock, it will fall in value. The more it falls, the more investors will sell.
If you're buying stocks for the quarterly income, you can figure out the dividend yield — the percentage of purchase price you get back through dividends each year. For example, if you buy stock for $100 a share and receive $4 per share, the stock has a dividend yield of 4%. But if you get $4 per share on stock you buy for $50 a share, your yield would be 8%.
Purchase Price Annual Dividend Yield
$100 $4 4%
$ 50 $4 8%

MAKING MONEY WITH STOCKS
Investors buy stocks to make money. One way is through capital gains, or making a profit by selling stock at a higher price than you paid for it.

If you buy 100 shares of a U.S. company at $50 a share (for a total investment of $5,000), and sell it for $75 a share (for a total of $7,500), you've realized a capital gain of $25 a share, or $2,500 before brokerage commission or taxes, if they apply.

A company's board of directors decides how large a dividend the company will pay, or whether it will pay one at all. Usually only large, mature companies pay dividends. Smaller ones need to reinvest their profits to continue growing.



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Clearly you appear to be talking about a situation where net liabilities exceed equity (or perhaps net assets), i.e. where the balance is negative.

If you need a term that indicates that the balance of scales is on the negative side, perhaps this will do.

Let's operate simply from what the English text says:
loss = perte
I think there will be littel discussion in that: the bottom line of the balance balance sheet is negative (or the operating result is negative, this is not specified in the context, but in both cases these are "pertes")
value of stock: my understanding is that this means the current value of each share multiplied by the number of shares (current, diluted, weighted, no precision here either).
This amount of current share value at market price multipled by the number of shares is called "capitalisation bousière" in France.
Please note that the "capitalisation boursière" or "value of stock" has little to do with the capital or "fonds propres" of the company, the value is equal when the shares are emitted, but then fluctuates with market.

See this article in the Google cache (the original URL has been replaced with a newer article):
http://www.google.fr/search?q=cache:GVZgZnmP3z4C:www.newsbou...
"Les chiffres font frémir. Au cours de son exercice clos le 31 août dernier, GameLoft a réalisé un chiffre d’affaires de 3,4 millions d’euros pour des pertes nettes… 20 fois supérieures Elles représentent même près de 3 fois sa capitalisation boursière...
"