Book Value Per Share Calculator

Horizontal Banner
728×90

Calculate the per-share book value of a company

BVPS Formulas

Basic BVPS

Loading formula...

Tangible BVPS

Loading formula...

BVPS Growth

Loading formula...

Understanding Book Value Per Share

Book Value Per Share (BVPS) represents the equity available to common shareholders divided by shares outstanding. It's the accounting value of each share if the company liquidated assets and paid all liabilities. Think of it as the 'floor value' per share.

BVPS comes directly from the balance sheet: Total Equity minus Preferred Equity, divided by common shares. If a company has $100 million in equity and 10 million shares, BVPS is $10. Compare to stock price for P/B ratio.

Growing BVPS over time indicates the company is building shareholder value through retained earnings. Warren Buffett tracks BVPS growth as a key measure of intrinsic value creation. Consistent BVPS growth is a positive sign.

BVPS Components

💼

Common Equity

Shareholders' equity attributable to common stockholders.

📊

Retained Earnings

Accumulated profits not paid as dividends. Major driver of BVPS growth.

📉

Treasury Stock

Repurchased shares. Reduces equity but also reduces share count.

🏷️

Intangibles

Goodwill, patents, trademarks. Excluded from tangible BVPS.

BVPS Analysis

Scenario	Stock Price vs BVPS	Interpretation	Action
Deep Value	Price < 0.5× BVPS	Major discount	Research why
Value	Price < BVPS	Below book	Potential opportunity
Fair	Price ≈ BVPS	At book value	Industry dependent
Premium	Price > 2× BVPS	High premium	Growth expected
High Growth	Price > 5× BVPS	Major premium	Intangible value

BVPS Analysis Tips

📈

Track BVPS Growth

Consistent 8-15% annual BVPS growth indicates strong value creation. Compare to peers.

🔍

Use Tangible BVPS

For acquisitive companies, tangible BVPS excludes potentially overvalued goodwill.

📊

Compare to ROE

BVPS growth ≈ ROE × (1 - dividend payout). High ROE should drive high BVPS growth.

⚠️

Watch for Dilution

Stock issuance increases shares, potentially diluting BVPS even if equity grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I find BVPS data?

Calculate from balance sheet: Total Equity ÷ Shares Outstanding. Many financial sites also report BVPS directly. Use diluted shares for conservative measure.

Why does BVPS differ from stock price?

Stock price reflects future expectations and intangible value. BVPS is historical accounting value. Growing companies trade above BVPS; distressed companies may trade below.

What's a good BVPS growth rate?

10-15% annual growth is excellent. BVPS growth = ROE × retention ratio. A company with 15% ROE and 70% retention grows BVPS at ~10.5% annually.

How do buybacks affect BVPS?

Buybacks reduce both equity (cash paid out) and shares. If bought below BVPS, remaining shares' BVPS increases. If bought above BVPS, remaining BVPS decreases.

How to use this BVPS calculator

Enter Total Shareholders' Equity ($) — the bottom line of the stockholders' equity section of the most recent balance sheet (10-K or 10-Q).
Enter Preferred Equity ($) — the carrying value of preferred stock outstanding, usually a separate line above common equity. Leave at 0 if the company has no preferred shares.
Enter Intangible Assets ($) — goodwill plus other intangibles from the assets side of the balance sheet. This is only used for the Tangible BVPS figure; leave at 0 if you only want basic BVPS.
Enter Common Shares Outstanding — pull this from the cover page of the latest 10-Q or 10-K rather than the income statement, which reports a weighted-average share count.
Click Calculate BVPS to see basic BVPS, tangible BVPS, total common equity, and the comparison against the current stock price (P/B ratio).

Examples

Basic: a $1B equity bank with no preferred stock

A regional bank reports $1,000,000,000 of total shareholders' equity, $50,000,000 of preferred stock, no significant intangibles, and 100,000,000 common shares outstanding at year-end.

ResultCommon equity = 1,000,000,000 − 50,000,000 = $950,000,000. BVPS = 950,000,000 / 100,000,000 = $9.50 per share. With the stock trading at $11.40, the P/B ratio is 1.20x.

Banks and insurers are the textbook case for BVPS because most of their assets and liabilities are financial instruments carried close to fair value on the balance sheet. A P/B near 1.0x suggests the market values the bank near its accounting equity — typical for a slow-growing regional with mid-single-digit ROE.

Intermediate: a serial acquirer where goodwill swamps tangible equity

A consumer staples company reports $8,000,000,000 of total equity, no preferred stock, $6,500,000,000 of goodwill and other intangibles from past acquisitions, and 400,000,000 shares outstanding.

ResultBasic BVPS = 8,000,000,000 / 400,000,000 = $20.00. Tangible BVPS = (8,000,000,000 − 6,500,000,000) / 400,000,000 = $3.75. The company's stock trades at $60, so P/B is 3.0x but price-to-tangible-book is 16x.

When a buyer pays more than fair value for a target, the excess becomes goodwill on the buyer's balance sheet. That goodwill is real accounting equity, but it only retains its value as long as the acquisitions earn an adequate return. NYU's Damodaran recommends comparing both BVPS and tangible BVPS for acquirers to gauge how much of equity is brand and goodwill versus hard assets.

Edge case: a SaaS company where BVPS is almost meaningless

A high-growth software firm reports $400,000,000 of equity (after $1,200,000,000 of cumulative buybacks), no preferred or significant intangibles, and 80,000,000 shares outstanding. The stock trades at $250.

ResultBVPS = 400,000,000 / 80,000,000 = $5.00. P/B = 250 / 5 = 50x.

A 50x P/B ratio looks alarming, but for asset-light SaaS the balance sheet captures very little of the actual economic value: customer relationships, product code, brand, and network effects are largely expensed as incurred under GAAP. For software, P/B is a weak signal — analysts lean on EV/Revenue, EV/EBITDA, and rule-of-40 metrics instead.

How it works

The calculator applies the textbook formula $\text{BVPS} = (\text{Total Equity} - \text{Preferred Equity}) / \text{Common Shares Outstanding}$ . Total equity is the residual claim on the assets after subtracting all liabilities — the same number SEC filings call "total stockholders' equity" on the balance sheet. Subtracting preferred equity isolates the slice that belongs to common shareholders.

Tangible BVPS additionally subtracts goodwill and other intangible assets: $\text{TBVPS} = (\text{Total Equity} - \text{Preferred Equity} - \text{Intangibles}) / \text{Shares}$ . Intangibles can be perfectly real (a brand name, a software platform, a patent), but they exist on the books only when they were purchased in an acquisition. Tangible BVPS conservatively values only what could be sold in a piece-by-piece liquidation.

Price-to-book is then $\text{P/B} = \text{Market Price} / \text{BVPS}$ . The denominator is per share rather than total because share prices and accounting equity per share share the same unit, which avoids one source of stale-data error. The calculator solves only static balance-sheet algebra; it does not project earnings, ROE, or future BVPS growth.

Equity, preferred stock, and intangible assets are all defined and measured under U.S. GAAP rules issued by FASB. The same line items exist under IFRS but with subtle differences (revaluation of PP&E, treatment of internally developed intangibles), so cross-jurisdiction comparisons of BVPS need care. The SEC's EDGAR filings are the most reliable source for U.S. public-company inputs.

When to use this calculator

Analyzing banks, insurers, and other financial institutions. BVPS works best when assets and liabilities are marked close to fair value, which is true for most financial firms. P/B has been a standard valuation lens for U.S. and European banks for decades.
Screening for deep-value or distressed equity ideas. Benjamin Graham's net-net screen searches for stocks trading below tangible book or even below net current asset value. A BVPS calculation is the first step in those classic value screens.
Evaluating REITs and asset-heavy real estate plays. For REITs reported under historical cost, BVPS often understates true asset value; analysts compare against NAV instead. But computing BVPS is still useful as a floor and as input to leverage and dividend-coverage screens.
Tracking shareholder value creation over time. Warren Buffett famously tracked Berkshire's BVPS growth as a proxy for intrinsic value creation for decades. A steadily growing BVPS, especially per share after buybacks, is a high-quality signal.
Comparing two acquirers with different goodwill loads. Two firms can have identical headline BVPS but very different tangible BVPS depending on how aggressively they have acquired competitors. Running both numbers exposes the difference.

Common mistakes

MistakeUsing the weighted-average share count from the income statement.
FixBVPS is a point-in-time ratio — use the end-of-period shares outstanding from the 10-Q/10-K cover page, not the diluted weighted average used to compute EPS.
MistakeForgetting to subtract preferred equity.
FixPreferred stock is part of total equity but does not belong to common shareholders. Subtract it (and any preferred dividends in arrears) before dividing by common shares.
MistakeComparing BVPS across very different industries.
FixA 0.9x P/B looks cheap for a tech firm but is normal for a bank, and a 5x P/B looks rich for a bank but is cheap for a SaaS leader. Always benchmark within the same sector.
MistakeIgnoring goodwill and brand value when reading P/B.
FixA company with most equity in goodwill can have flattering BVPS but tiny tangible BVPS. Run both versions, especially for serial acquirers, banks post-M&A, and consumer staples.
MistakeAssuming BVPS approximates intrinsic value.
FixBVPS is historical accounting equity, not market value. Internally developed brands, customer relationships, software, and human capital are largely expensed, so BVPS systematically understates value for asset-light firms.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between BVPS and the stock price?

BVPS is a historical accounting figure — the residual equity per common share recorded on the balance sheet. The stock price is forward-looking and reflects expected future cash flows, growth, brand strength, and market sentiment. The ratio of the two, P/B, captures how much premium (or discount) the market is willing to pay over book equity. Growing companies routinely trade above BVPS; distressed or capital-impaired firms often trade below it.

How do I interpret the P/B ratio?

P/B compares stock price to BVPS. A P/B below 1.0x signals the market values the company below its accounting equity — sometimes a value opportunity, sometimes a warning of impaired assets. P/B between 1x and 3x is typical for mature businesses, and P/B above 5x usually reflects intangible value the balance sheet doesn't capture. The Damodaran data archive at NYU Stern publishes industry-median P/B ratios that work well as benchmarks.

When is BVPS most meaningful?

For businesses whose assets and liabilities are reported close to fair value: banks, insurance companies, and most REITs. Loans, securities, and real estate are marked under GAAP rules that approximate market value, so equity per share is a reasonable proxy for liquidation or break-up value. Analysts at JPMorgan, Goldman, and other equity research desks routinely price banks at multiples of tangible book (TBV) per share.

When is BVPS least meaningful?

For asset-light businesses where value comes from brands, software, network effects, or human capital — SaaS, consumer brands, pharma, advertising platforms. Under GAAP, internally developed intangibles are largely expensed, so the balance sheet captures only a small fraction of economic value. For these firms, P/B can be 20x–50x and tell you almost nothing about valuation. Use EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue, or DCF instead.

What is tangible book value per share (TBVPS)?

TBVPS subtracts goodwill and other intangible assets from common equity before dividing by shares: $\text{TBVPS} = (\text{Equity} - \text{Preferred} - \text{Intangibles}) / \text{Shares}$ . It strips out the part of book value that exists only because of past acquisitions and approximates what the firm could fetch in a piece-by-piece liquidation. Banking analysts in particular focus on price-to-tangible-book because regulatory capital is also measured net of goodwill.

How do share buybacks affect BVPS?

Buybacks reduce both total equity (cash leaves the balance sheet) and the share count. If the firm buys back shares below BVPS, remaining BVPS rises; if above BVPS, it falls. This is a key lever for management: a CEO buying back richly priced shares is destroying tangible book value per share even though the share count is dropping. The CFA Institute's equity valuation curriculum discusses this trade-off in detail.

Does BVPS account for off-balance-sheet items?

No. Operating leases (now mostly on balance sheet under ASC 842), unfunded pension obligations, contingent liabilities, and most internally generated intangibles are either reported elsewhere or not reported at all. SEC 10-K disclosures usually list these in the footnotes; if you want a conservative BVPS, adjust equity downward by net off-balance-sheet liabilities before computing the ratio.

Where do I find the inputs in SEC filings?

Total stockholders' equity, preferred stock, and goodwill/intangible assets all appear on the consolidated balance sheet in the company's 10-K (annual) or 10-Q (quarterly), filed on SEC EDGAR. Common shares outstanding appear on the filing's cover page as of a recent date — not in the financial statements themselves, which report the weighted average used for EPS. Use the cover-page figure for BVPS.

Sources

EDGAR — Full-Text Search of 10-K and 10-Q Filings · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Equity Risk Premiums and Multiples — Damodaran Online (Price/Book data) · NYU Stern (Aswath Damodaran)
Equity Asset Valuation — CFA Program Refresher Reading · CFA Institute
FASB Accounting Standards Codification — Stockholders' Equity (Topic 505) · Financial Accounting Standards Board
Guidance on Non-GAAP Measures and Accounting for Equity · AICPA
Form 10-K — General Instructions · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Methodology

Book Value Per Share is computed as (Total Shareholders' Equity − Preferred Equity) / Common Shares Outstanding, taking inputs directly from the balance sheet of the latest SEC filing. Tangible BVPS additionally subtracts goodwill and other intangible assets from common equity before the per-share division, giving a more conservative figure that excludes acquisition premiums. P/B ratio is the current market price divided by BVPS. The calculator performs static balance-sheet arithmetic only — it does not normalize for off-balance-sheet liabilities, mark-to-market adjustments, or jurisdiction-specific GAAP/IFRS differences. The formulas and terminology follow standard FASB definitions of stockholders' equity and intangibles, the CFA Institute equity valuation curriculum, and NYU Stern's Damodaran reference material for industry P/B benchmarks.

Learn more about our methodology →

Pro Tips

Bookmark this calculator for quick access in the future
Use the share button to send your results to others
Try different scenarios to compare outcomes
Check out our related calculators for more insights

Found this calculator helpful? Share it with others:

Please Allow Ads to Continue

How to disable your ad blocker:

Search Calculators