How do I get the inputs for book value per share from a company’s financials?

Take Total Shareholders’ Equity and Preferred Equity from the balance sheet (equity section) and Common Shares Outstanding from the footnotes or share data; Intangible Assets & Goodwill are listed as separate line items under non-current assets.

Why does the calculator subtract preferred equity before calculating book value per share?

Book value per share is meant for common shareholders, so preferred equity is removed from total equity to isolate the portion attributable to common equity before dividing by common shares.

When should I use Tangible Book Value per Share instead of regular BVPS?

Use tangible BVPS when you want to strip out goodwill and other intangibles and focus on hard assets — especially useful for banks, insurers, and asset-heavy businesses where balance-sheet quality matters.

What does it mean if BVPS is much lower than the current share price?

A price far above BVPS usually signals the market expects strong profitability or valuable intangibles; it can also mean the stock is expensive on a book-value basis and you may want to check the price-to-book ratio and return on equity.

Book Value per Share Calculator (BVPS) – Common Equity per Share Online

What is Book Value per Share (BVPS)?

Book value per share (BVPS) shows how much common shareholders’ equity is assigned to each outstanding common share after liabilities and preferred capital are covered.

It’s an accounting-based value anchor used to assess downside protection, balance-sheet strength, and whether the market is paying a premium or discount to net asset value.

Formulas

then we have Tangible BVPS

Example

Suppose a company reports:

Total shareholders’ equity: $5,000,000
Preferred equity: $500,000
Intangible assets & goodwill: $0
Common shares outstanding: 1,000,000

Common equity = $5,000,000 − $500,000 = $4,500,000

BVPS = $4.50 per share
Tangible BVPS = $4.50 per share

If the stock trades at $3.20, the market is valuing it below book value; a price far above $4.50 implies investors expect stronger earnings power or franchise value.

How to Use the Book Value per Share Calculator

Use this calculator to turn balance sheet data into both book value per share (BVPS) and tangible book value per share, so you can see how much equity backs each common share.

Enter Total Shareholders’ Equity
- Input the company’s total shareholders’ equity exactly as reported on the balance sheet.
Enter Preferred Equity (if any)
- If the company has preferred stock, enter the total preferred equity; if not, leave it at zero so all equity is treated as common.
Add Intangible Assets & Goodwill (optional)
- - Type in the total value of goodwill and other intangible assets; this lets the tool calculate tangible book value per share by stripping out intangibles:
and
Enter Common Shares Outstanding
- Fill in the number of common shares currently outstanding (use the latest basic share count unless you specifically want diluted).
Review the Results and Interpretation
- Check the Results panel for BVPS, Tangible BVPS, Common Equity, and Tangible Common Equity, then use the “What It Means” section and summary bar to quickly interpret how much tangible backing each share has.

Frequently Asked Questions

Take Total Shareholders’ Equity and Preferred Equity from the balance sheet (equity section) and Common Shares Outstanding from the footnotes or share data; Intangible Assets & Goodwill are listed as separate line items under non-current assets.
Book value per share is meant for common shareholders, so preferred equity is removed from total equity to isolate the portion attributable to common equity before dividing by common shares.
Use tangible BVPS when you want to strip out goodwill and other intangibles and focus on hard assets — especially useful for banks, insurers, and asset-heavy businesses where balance-sheet quality matters.
A price far above BVPS usually signals the market expects strong profitability or valuable intangibles; it can also mean the stock is expensive on a book-value basis and you may want to check the price-to-book ratio and return on equity.

Methodology & Sources

Bibliography

Wall Street Prep Editorial Team (2021). Book Value Per Share (BVPS) | Formula + Calculator — Wall Street Prep https://www.wallstreetprep.com/knowledge/book-value-of-equity-per-share/
Accessed 2025-11-19
Steven Bragg (2025). Book value per share definition — AccountingTools https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/book-value-per-share
Accessed 2025-11-19
FreshBooks Editorial Team (2024). Book Value Per Share: Definition, Formula & Example — FreshBooks https://www.freshbooks.com/glossary/accounting/book-value-per-share
Accessed 2025-11-19