When you purchase shares of corporate stock, then ----

Stock (also capital stock) is all of the shares into which ownership of a corporation is divided.

In American English, the shares are collectively known as "stock".

A single share of the stock represents fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the total number of shares.

This typically entitles the stockholder to that fraction of the company's earnings, proceeds from liquidation of assets (after discharge of all senior claims such as secured and unsecured debt), or voting power, often dividing these up in proportion to the amount of money each stockholder has invested.