Recently when I was navigating my Quora profile, I got an answer request for the question what is the difference between face value and market value of a company. Although both these are elementary terms related to stocks, however, they may be a little confusing for the beginners. Therefore, I decided to write a simple blog explaining the difference.

In this post, we are going to discuss the difference between Face Value, Market Value, and Book Value of a stock. Let’s start with the easiest.

Market Value

Market value per share is the current value of the stock. This is the price at which market values the stock. For example, if a stock is trading at a share price of Rs 100, then this is the market value per share of that company. The market value per share of a company fluctuates continuously throughout the trading time period.

Further, the total market value of a company, also referred as the market capitalization of the public company, is calculated by multiplying the current share price of the company by its total outstanding shares. 

Face Value

Face value (also known as par value) is the value of a company listed in its books and share certificate. The company decides the face value when it offers shares at the time of issuance. The face value of a share is fixed (until the company decides to split or reverse-split the shares).

For example, during the IPO of Avenue Supermart (Parent company of D’mart Supermarkets), the management decided the face value per share to be Rs 10. Here is the details:

(Source: Avenue supermart IPO details- Chittorgarh)

In general, the face value of a company is lower than its market value. For example, when a company goes public, it can have a face value of Rs 10. And it may trade at a market price of Rs 500.

However, this case is not always true. For example, in the case of penny stocks, the face value of the company may be higher than its market value. Penny stocks are those companies which trade at a share price less than Rs 10. Therefore, here the market price may be Rs 5 and the face value of the company may be Rs 10.

Further, the face value of a company is not affected by whether the market price goes up or down. However, the face value of a company will reduce in the case of a stock split. For example, if the current face value of a company is Rs 10 and it announces a stock split in the ratio of 1:1. Then, the face value of that company will split in the same proportion. Here, the face value will change to Rs 5 as the total number of share doubles after the stock split.

Also read: Stock split vs bonus share – Basics of stock market

Book Value

In simple words, the book value of a company theoretically means the total value of the company’s assets that shareholders will receive in case the company gets liquidated i.e. when all company’s assets get sold and all the liabilities are paid back to all the debt-holders. Therefore, book value can be considered as the net value of the company reflected in its books.

The book value is calculated as total assets minus intangible assets (patents, goodwill) and liabilities. When you divide the book value of a company by it the total number of outstanding shares, you arrive at the book value per share.

You can compare the book value per share of a company with its market price to find whether the company is under or overvalued. Further, its always advisable to invest in companies with growing book value over time.

For example- here is the book value of ASIAN PAINTS:

(Source: Moneycontrol)

Where to find the face value, book value and market value of a company?

The face value, book value and market value of a company can be found on almost all financial websites.

Whenever you open the company page on any financial websites, the first thing that you’ll notice is its market value per share. However, just by cruising a little, you can easily find face value and book value per share of the company. For example, here is the face value, market value and book value per share for Asian Paints. (Source- Screener).

(Source- Screener)

You can also find this information on other popular financial websites like Yahoo Finance, Marketsmojo, Equitymaster etc.

Also read:

• 7 Must Know Websites for Indian Stock Market Investors.
• 8 Financial Ratio Analysis that Every Stock Investor Should Know.
• 3 Simple Tricks to Stock Research in India for Beginners.

Bottom line

By now, the meaning of face value, market value, and book value should be clear to you. All these three terms are different and one should not get confused among them while studying any company.

Market value per share is the current value at which the stock is trading in the market. Face value is the value of a company listed in its books of the company and share certificate. And finally, the book value of a company is the total value of the company’s assets that shareholders will receive in case the company gets liquidated.

That’s all for this post. I hope it was useful to you. Happy Investing!!