See what it would really cost to buy a whole company. Enter share price, shares outstanding, total debt and cash to get market cap, net debt and enterprise value.
Answer first: enterprise value is the total price of buying an entire company — not just its shares, but its debts too, offset by the cash you would inherit. This enterprise value calculator starts from market capitalisation (share price times shares), adds total debt and subtracts cash to reveal the figure an acquirer actually pays.
Enterprise value = Market cap + Total debt − Cash
Example: a $50 stock with 100M shares has a $5,000M market cap. Add $1,500M of debt and subtract $500M of cash and enterprise value = 5,000 + 1,500 − 500 = $6,000M. The $1,000M of net debt is the gap between what shareholders are worth and what the whole business costs.
Why add debt and subtract cash? Because when you buy a company you become responsible for its loans, so those debts are effectively part of the price. Meanwhile the cash on its balance sheet is yours the moment the deal closes — you could use it to pay down the purchase — so it reduces the true cost. Market cap alone tells you only what the equity is worth; enterprise value tells you what the business is worth.
Two companies can have identical market caps yet cost wildly different amounts to own outright. A debt-free firm sitting on a cash pile is far cheaper in enterprise-value terms than an identically priced rival buried in loans. That is why valuation multiples built on enterprise value — above all EV/EBITDA — are the tool of choice for comparing companies with different capital structures, and why private-equity buyers and analysts lean on EV rather than the share price alone.
Net debt is total debt minus cash and cash equivalents. "Total debt" means all interest-bearing borrowings — short-term loans, long-term bonds, and often capitalised leases. "Cash" includes cash, bank deposits and highly liquid short-term investments. A company with more cash than debt has negative net debt, which means its enterprise value is actually lower than its market cap — you are partly buying a pile of cash. Some rigorous versions of the formula also add minority interest and preferred equity, but market cap plus net debt captures the vast majority of the value for most companies.
On its own, EV is just a big number; its power comes from putting it over a measure of profit or cash flow. Divide EV by EBITDA for the most widely quoted takeover multiple, or by sales for early-stage companies with thin margins. Because EV already accounts for debt, these multiples let you line up a lightly levered tech firm against a debt-heavy industrial and compare them fairly — something a simple P/E ratio, which ignores the balance sheet, cannot do.
Reality check: enterprise value uses balance-sheet figures that change every quarter, and simplified versions omit items like minority interest. This calculator is educational, not investment advice. For company-reporting basics, see the U.S. SEC at investor.gov.
Turn EV into a multiple with the EV/EBITDA calculator, compare it to equity value with the market cap calculator, gauge leverage with the debt-to-equity calculator, and value cash flows with the DCF calculator.
Last updated July 4, 2026 · Written by Mustafa Bilgic. Educational only — not financial advice.
Enterprise value is the total cost of acquiring a whole company: its market capitalisation plus total debt, minus cash. It represents what a buyer effectively pays to own the entire business, not just its shares.
When you buy a company you take on its debts, so they add to the price. You also gain its cash, which you could use to offset the purchase, so cash reduces the true cost. The result is the net price of the whole business.
Market cap values only the equity — share price times shares. Enterprise value adds net debt on top, so it reflects the full price of the business including its borrowings. Two firms with equal market caps can have very different enterprise values.
Yes. If a company holds more cash than debt, its net debt is negative and enterprise value falls below market cap. In effect, part of what you buy is a stack of cash.