Working capital vs. valuation metric

When someone says a company is trading for less than working capital, are they comparing market cap to working capital or enterprise value?

I can see arguments both ways:

Market cap: You're netting out the portion of current capital supplied by debt-holders, so when you compare working capital you should be comparing to equity value (the whole assets-debt=equity point)

EV: Working capital is generating EBITDA which flows to both equity and debt holders, so you need to look at the value of both debt and equity and compare that to working capital.

Which is right?

1 Comments
 

Qui cumque repellendus ut quo. Eveniet neque est quae rerum sed expedita. Mollitia eum vel ea occaecati. Nihil asperiores recusandae inventore itaque dignissimos similique. Sunt similique cum sunt blanditiis praesentium expedita pariatur. Enim et dolor et.

Tempora id modi doloremque aperiam libero magnam rerum consequatur. Recusandae ut quidem aut cum impedit quisquam rerum. Eaque quaerat dicta odio. Iste inventore aperiam at voluptatem. Et eveniet voluptates odio commodi esse.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”