Skip to content
TraderCalcs.io

Market Cap Calculator

Calculate market capitalisation and enterprise value from share count, price, debt and cash.

Market capitalisation is the price of a company's equity: every share on the register multiplied by what one share costs. Enterprise value is the price of the company's business: the equity plus the debt an acquirer would inherit, less the cash they would find in the till. The two are routinely used interchangeably, they answer questions that have almost nothing to do with one another, and this market cap calculator doubles as an EV calculator, reporting the two side by side for exactly that reason.

Formula: market cap = shares outstanding x price; EV = market cap + debt - cash

Your figures

The full count on the register, from the company's own reporting. A weighted average is a fractional figure and is accepted as one.

All interest-bearing debt, short and long term. Enter zero if there is none.

Cash and equivalents on the balance sheet. Enter zero if there is none.

Optional — the value of subsidiary equity the parent does not own.

Optional — preferred stock at its redemption or carrying value.

Optional — the share of the register that actually trades, with founder, state and cross-holdings excluded.

Results

Market capitalisation

US$16,170,000,000

420,000,000 shares at US$38.50

Market capitalisationShares outstanding multiplied by the price: what the equity costs.
US$16,170,000,000
Free float sharesThe part of the register available to be bought.
344,400,000
Free float market capitalisationWhat most major indices weight by. Weighting by shares nobody can buy sets every tracker fund a target it cannot fill.
US$13,259,400,000
Net debtTotal debt less cash. Negative when the company holds more cash than debt.
US$2,350,000,000
Claims the share price does not pay forDebt plus minority interest plus preferred equity, less cash. This is the whole of the difference between the two headline figures.
US$2,610,000,000
Enterprise valueMarket capitalisation plus those claims: what the business costs rather than what the equity costs.
US$18,780,000,000
Enterprise value against market capitalisationAbove 1 when the company carries net debt, below 1 when it holds net cash.
1.16 : 1
Net debt as a share of enterprise valueHow much of the cost of the business is the debt rather than the equity.
+12.51%
Total debt
US$4,200,000,000
Cash and equivalents
US$1,850,000,000
Minority interest and preferred equityBoth are claims on the operating assets that the ordinary share price does not pay for, so both are added to enterprise value.
US$260,000,000 · US$0.00

What this means

420,000,000 shares at US$38.50 give a market capitalisation of US$16,170,000,000: the price of the equity. Of that register, 344,400,000 shares trade freely, giving a free float capitalisation of US$13,259,400,000. Adding the claims the share price does not pay for — US$4,200,000,000 of debt, plus any minority interest and preferred equity — and taking off US$1,850,000,000 of cash gives an enterprise value of US$18,780,000,000, which is the price of the business rather than of its shares. The two answer different questions: an index weights by the first because an index is a portfolio of shares, and takeover multiples are quoted on the second because an acquirer assumes the debt and takes possession of the cash.

  • Every figure above is yours to enter. No price, share count, earnings figure or commission is fetched from anywhere, and no broker's commission is preset — where a field opens with one it is a round illustration. That is what lets these work on a private company, a delisted one, a statement you would rather check than trust, and a date no live feed still serves.
  • Market capitalisation is the price of the equity; enterprise value is the price of the business. Two companies with identical operations and different capital structures have very different market caps and near-identical enterprise values, and only the second comparison says anything about the businesses.
  • Share counts move. Buybacks, issuance, option exercise and convertible conversion all change the register between reporting dates, and a count taken from an old filing values a company that no longer exists in that shape.
  • A company holding more cash than its debt and its market capitalisation together has a negative enterprise value. That is unusual and entirely real, and it is where the ratio to enterprise value above stops being meaningful and is withheld rather than printed.
  • Assumes the price, debt and cash are all in the currency selected above. A company reporting in one currency and listed in another has to be converted first — no exchange rate is applied here.

Market capitalisation: US$16,170,000,000

The link reopens this calculator with the same numbers. Nothing you enter is sent to a server.

About the Market Cap calculation

Used as an enterprise value calculator it wants more than the share count and the price: total debt, cash, and optionally minority interest, preferred equity and the free float percentage. Nothing is fetched from any filing or feed, which is what lets it work on a private company, a subsidiary being carved out, a delisted shell, or a set of accounts you would rather key in yourself than trust to a data vendor's mapping.

The free float figure is not an afterthought. Most major indices weight by the capitalisation of the shares that actually trade rather than by the full register, because shares locked inside a founding family, a state holding or a cross-shareholding cannot be bought — and weighting an index by shares nobody can buy hands every tracker fund a target it is unable to fill.

Market Cap formula

market cap        = shares outstanding × price
free float cap    = market cap × free float % ÷ 100

net debt          = total debt − cash
non-equity claims = total debt + minority + preferred − cash
enterprise value  = market cap + non-equity claims

EV ÷ market cap   = enterprise value ÷ market cap
net debt / EV     = net debt ÷ enterprise value × 100
                    (withheld when EV is zero or negative)
shares outstanding
The full count on the register from the company's own reporting. A weighted average figure is fractional and is accepted as one.
total debt
All interest-bearing borrowing, short and long term, at the figure you take from the balance sheet rather than any adjusted measure.
minority interest
The value of subsidiary equity the parent does not own but whose results it consolidates. A claim on the operating assets that the ordinary share price does not pay for.
preferred equity
Preferred stock at redemption or carrying value. Ranked ahead of the ordinary shares, so an acquirer of the ordinary equity has not bought it.
free float
The percentage of the register genuinely available to trade, with founder, state, strategic and cross-holdings excluded.

The market capitalisation formula is a single multiplication, and what comes out of it is a price rather than a size. It is what the equity costs at the current quote, and it says nothing at all about revenue, assets, employees or how much of the business is financed by borrowing. Two companies running identical operations, one financed entirely by equity and one half financed by debt, have very different market capitalisations and near-identical enterprise values, and only the second comparison says anything about the businesses themselves.

The debt is added and the cash is subtracted because an acquirer inherits both. Buying the equity of a company means assuming what it owes and taking possession of what it holds, so the economic cost of the whole business is the market capitalisation plus the borrowings and minus the till. That is why takeover multiples, and almost every multiple with an operating figure underneath it, are quoted on enterprise value: an operating profit is earned before interest, so comparing it with a number that reflects only the equity mixes two different claims on the same cash flow.

Minority interest and preferred equity are added for the same reason and are the two lines most often left out. Consolidated accounts include the whole of a subsidiary the parent only partly owns, so the earnings and assets in the statements are backed by a claim the ordinary share price did not buy. Preferred stock ranks ahead of the ordinary equity on both income and capital. Leaving either out understates what it would cost to own the operating business outright, and does so by more in exactly the structures where it matters most.

The cash subtraction is where the arithmetic can turn strange in a way that is entirely real. A company holding more cash than its debt and its market capitalisation combined has a negative enterprise value: the market is pricing its operations at less than nothing on the figures supplied. It happens, usually to small companies with a large balance and a business the market has given up on. The ratio of net debt to enterprise value is withheld rather than printed in that case, because a ratio to a negative denominator flips sign without the numerator changing and reads as the opposite of what it is.

Market Cap: a worked example

A listed company with 420 million shares on the register trading at 38.50, carrying 4.20 billion of debt against 1.85 billion of cash, with 260 million of minority interest and a free float of 82%.

  1. Market capitalisation420,000,000 × 38.50 = 16,170,000,000
  2. Free float shares420,000,000 × 82% = 344,400,000
  3. Free float capitalisation16.17bn × 82% = 13,259,400,000
  4. Net debt4.20bn − 1.85bn = 2,350,000,000
  5. Claims the share price does not pay for4.20bn + 0.26bn − 1.85bn = 2,610,000,000
  6. Enterprise value16.17bn + 2.61bn = 18,780,000,000
  7. EV against market cap18.78bn ÷ 16.17bn = 1.16 : 1
  8. Net debt as a share of EV2.35bn ÷ 18.78bn = 12.51%

The equity costs 16.17 billion and the business costs 18.78 billion, a gap of 2.61 billion that the share price does not pay for. An index tracking this company would weight it at 13.26 billion rather than either figure, because only 82% of the register can be bought. Roughly an eighth of the cost of the whole business is the debt rather than the equity, which is the number that changes when the same operating profit is compared against the two denominators.

How to use the Market Cap calculator

  1. Take the share count from the company's own reporting and note which one you used. Basic, diluted and the latest post-buyback figure can differ by several percent, and the capitalisation moves with them point for point.
  2. Enter the price you want the valuation to reflect — the current quote, a closing price on a particular date, or an offer price you are testing. There is no feed behind this field and there never will be.
  3. Put in total interest-bearing debt rather than total liabilities. Trade payables and provisions are not borrowings, and including them inflates enterprise value against every comparison you might make.
  4. Fill in minority interest and preferred equity if the accounts show them, and leave them at zero if they do not. Both are claims ranking ahead of or alongside the equity you are pricing.
  5. Add the free float percentage when you want the free float market cap an index provider would use. Without it the calculator reports the full capitalisation only, which is the right number for owning the whole register and the wrong one for index weighting.
  6. Keep every figure in one currency. A company reporting in one and listed in another has to be converted before it is entered, because no exchange rate is applied here.

Limitations of the Market Cap calculator

Every calculation makes assumptions. These are the ones that matter here.

  • Uses one share count at one moment. Buybacks, issuance, option exercise and convertible conversion all move the register between reporting dates, so a count taken from an old filing values a company that no longer exists in that shape.
  • Takes debt at balance sheet carrying value rather than market value. For a company whose bonds trade well below par, the cost of retiring the debt and the figure in the accounts are not the same number.
  • Excludes lease obligations, pension deficits and other debt-like items unless you choose to include them in the debt box. Different analysts draw that line in different places, and the enterprise value moves accordingly.
  • Treats all cash as available. In practice some is trapped in subsidiaries, restricted by covenants, held against working capital needs, or subject to tax on repatriation, and none of that shows up in the balance.
  • Says nothing about whether either figure is high or low. A capitalisation is a price, and a price only becomes a valuation once it is set against earnings, cash flow, assets or something else the business produces.
  • Ignores dilution from options, warrants and convertibles that are not yet in the share count. A fully diluted enterprise value is a larger number, and how much larger depends on strike prices this calculator does not ask for.

Frequently asked questions about Market Cap

What is the practical difference between market cap and enterprise value?

Market cap is what the shares cost; enterprise value is what the business costs. If you bought every share of a company with 100 of market cap, 40 of debt and 10 of cash, you would own an entity that immediately owes 40 and holds 10, so the true cost of the operations is 130. That is why an operating profit — earned before any interest is paid — belongs against the second figure rather than the first.

Why do indices weight by free float instead of the whole register?

Because an index has to be replicable. If 40% of a company's shares sit permanently with a founding family or a state holding, a fund tracking the index cannot buy them at any price, and a weight based on the full register would set every tracker a target it can never fill. Weighting by float sizes each position to the shares that genuinely change hands.

Can enterprise value really be negative?

Yes, and it is not an arithmetic fault. A company whose cash exceeds its debt and its market capitalisation combined has a negative enterprise value, which says the market is pricing the operating business below zero on the figures entered. It is unusual, it happens most often to small companies with large balances, and it is the case where the net-debt-to-EV ratio is withheld rather than printed.

Which share count belongs in the box — basic or diluted?

Whichever matches the question being asked, and the answer changes with it. Basic shares give the capitalisation of the register as it stands today; diluted shares give the figure after options and convertibles that are already in the money have been exercised. The gap can be several percent for a company that pays heavily in equity, and consistency between the numerator and the denominator of any multiple matters more than which one you pick.

Why are minority interest and preferred equity added rather than ignored?

Because consolidated accounts already include the whole of a partly owned subsidiary, and because preferred stock ranks ahead of the ordinary shares. Both are claims on the same operating assets that the ordinary share price did not buy, so leaving them out understates what owning the business outright would cost — most seriously in the group structures where they are largest.

Does a large market capitalisation mean a company is expensive?

It means the equity has a high total price, which is a different statement. A capitalisation is only a valuation once it is divided by something the business produces — earnings, cash flow, revenue or book value — and a very large company on a modest multiple and a small one on an extreme multiple are the ordinary case rather than the exception.

Last reviewed . See our methodology and editorial policy.

More stocks calculators