Equity value is the value attributable to a company’s common shareholders. For a public company, basic equity value generally equals the current share price multiplied by basic shares outstanding. In valuation work, bankers often use diluted equity value, which also accounts for potentially dilutive securities such as options and restricted stock units.
Enterprise value represents the value of a company’s core operations available to all capital providers, including common shareholders and lenders. It is neutral to capital structure: two otherwise identical businesses should have similar enterprise values even if one is financed mostly with equity and the other carries substantial debt.