A stock quote is not a single number but a timestamped snapshot of a market that may be fragmented across venues. The last trade can be stale by milliseconds or minutes, while the NBBO (National Best Bid and Offer) reflects the best displayed prices across all exchanges. Real-time data feeds matter because delayed quotes can mislead execution decisions.

Trade conditions also change what a print means:

Regular way: normal settlement trade (T+1 in the U.S. since May 2024).
Odd lot: fewer than 100 shares; historically excluded from tape but now reported.
Late report: trade executed earlier but reported out of sequence.
Stopped stock: price guaranteed by a specialist/market maker.

Condition	Quote impact
Regular	Updates last price normally
Odd lot	May not update high/low
Late	Can distort intraday charts
Stopped	Price is firm but not a market print