EBITDA multiple calculator
An enterprise value of 500,000,000 against EBITDA of 50,000,000 is a multiple of 10: a buyer pays ten times a year's operating cash earnings for the whole firm. Enter both figures for the same period and currency. Free in your browser.
- Free
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
- Your data stays on your device
Run — free
Worked example
- Enterprise value
- 500,000,000
- Ebitda
- 50,000,000
- Ebitda multiple
- 10
The EV/EBITDA multiple — searched as an EBITDA multiple calculator, EV to EBITDA, or enterprise-value multiple — is the workhorse comps screen for how expensive a whole firm is relative to its operating cash earnings. A result of 10 means buyers pay ten times EBITDA for the enterprise; 8x and 12x still print on many mid-market industrials.
What EV/EBITDA measures and how the multiple is formed
The enterprise-value-to-EBITDA multiple answers a single comps question: how many years of current operating cash earnings does the market, or a buyer, pay for the whole firm? Searchers who type ebitda multiple calculator want that quotient, not a price-to-earnings ratio that mixes capital structure into the denominator, not a revenue multiple that ignores margins, and not a spreadsheet that silently changes the decimal separator.
Enterprise value is the numerator: equity value plus net debt (interest-bearing debt minus surplus cash), plus preferred stock and non-controlling interest when those claims sit above common equity in a control transaction. EBITDA is the denominator: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for the same trailing twelve months or the same forward year the teaser uses, in the same currency as enterprise value. A ratio of 10.0 means the firm is priced at ten times EBITDA.
A ratio of 8x is a conventional industrial print; 12x to 15x appears in software and branded consumer comps. The calculator does not build enterprise value from market cap and net debt, does not normalize one-off add-backs, and does not apply a sector hurdle: those belong on the comps tape.
What you can do with it
Trading comps and screening
Turn reported enterprise value and trailing EBITDA into the EV/EBITDA print a comps table will rank next to sector peers.
M&A teaser and CIM checks
Paste the advertised enterprise value and EBITDA from a teaser so the implied multiple is visible before a football-field chart is built.
Classroom and CFA valuation drills
Seed examples that return a rounded multiple on positive EBITDA and fail loudly when EBITDA is zero or negative.
FAQ
What happens if EBITDA is zero or negative?
EV/EBITDA is a quotient, so a zero or negative denominator is undefined and is not billed.
Can enterprise value be negative?
Yes. Distressed capital structures with surplus cash above equity-plus-debt claims are allowed and yield a negative multiple.
Does this calculator build EV from market cap and net debt?
No. It divides the enterprise value you supply by EBITDA. Assemble market cap, debt, and cash in the calling application if you need that identity first.
What EBITDA multiple is normal?
It depends on the sector. Around 8x is a conventional print for industrial companies, while 12x to 15x shows up in software and branded consumer comparisons. The calculator does not apply any sector benchmark for you.
What goes into enterprise value?
Equity value plus net debt, meaning interest-bearing debt minus surplus cash, plus preferred stock and minority interests when those claims sit above common equity. You enter the finished figure; the calculator does not build it.
Related tools
For developers — API access
Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.
API endpoint
Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.
Call it from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/ebitda-multiple \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"enterprise_value":500000000,"ebitda":50000000}'const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/ebitda-multiple", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"enterprise_value": 500000000,
"ebitda": 50000000
})
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();import os, requests
res = requests.post(
"https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/ebitda-multiple",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
json={
"enterprise_value": 500000000,
"ebitda": 50000000
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/ebitda-multiple", false, stream_context_create([
"http" => [
"method" => "POST",
"header" => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
"content" => '{"enterprise_value":500000000,"ebitda":50000000}',
],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"enterprise_value":500000000,"ebitda":50000000}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/fin/ebitda-multiple", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)Example request
{
"enterprise_value": 500000000,
"ebitda": 50000000
}Example response
{
"task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
"type": "fin.ebitda_multiple",
"status": "queued",
"_links": {
"result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
}
}The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.
Pricing
Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.
Limits
max_abs_value | 1000000000000000 |
Errors
| HTTP | Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
401 | unauthorized | Missing or invalid API key. |
402 | insufficient_balance | Your balance doesn't cover the task price. |
404 | unknown_type | That task type doesn't exist. |
429 | rate_limited | Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling. |
Technical notes
This calculator accepts enterprise value and EBITDA as finite numbers in one currency, divides the first by the second, and returns the valuation multiple as a deterministic JSON contract. Zero or negative EBITDA is rejected with invalid_input because the quotient is undefined or not a usable trading multiple.
What EV/EBITDA measures and how the multiple is formed
This tool divides those two finite amounts and returns ebitda_multiple. Because division by zero is undefined, and because a negative EBITDA does not produce a useful trading multiple in the way a credit committee or a comps table uses the figure, an ebitda of zero or less fails with invalid_input instead of Infinity, NaN, or a negative multiple a form might treat as a bargain.
Input contract, response shape, and error behaviour
Zero EBITDA is the error this landing exists to catch: the message contains ebitda and greater than zero so a form can highlight that control instead of showing a global alert. Negative EBITDA is likewise rejected, because a negative denominator is not the EV/EBITDA multiple a comps table describes. POST a JSON body that supplies enterprise_value and ebitda. enterprise_value is the firm-wide value in a single currency unit, a finite number that may be zero or negative in distressed capital structures, with aliases ev, firm_value, tev, and enterprise_val. ebitda is trailing or forward earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in the same currency, a finite number that must be strictly greater than zero, with aliases ebitda_ttm, operating_ebitda, trailing_ebitda, and ebitda_forward. Each numeric field may arrive as a JSON number or as a numeric string. Missing enterprise_value, missing ebitda, empty strings, non-finite values, or a magnitude above the declared limit fail with invalid_input naming the field and are not billed. On success the body echoes both inputs, returns ebitda_multiple as the rounded quotient, and includes a formula string restating the identity. Example: enterprise_value of five hundred million against ebitda of fifty million yields ebitda_multiple of 10. Example: enterprise_value of one billion against seventy-five million of EBITDA yields a non-integer multiple rather than a silent empty payload. Pair the multiple with your own sector median if the memo needs a cheap or expensive flag; this endpoint computes the valuation multiple only and does not invent a comps verdict.
Where an EBITDA multiple calculator earns its keep
Equity research, buy-side screens, and M&A teasers rank for ebitda multiple calculator because a comps table thinks in EV/EBITDA, not in a raw market cap. Corporate development and private-equity associates live on confidential-information-memorandum figures; dividing teaser EV by advertised EBITDA gives the same print without forcing an analyst to remember whether a cell already subtracted leases. Educators teaching CFA-style valuation can seed classroom examples that fail loudly on zero or negative EBITDA instead of printing Infinity a student might treat as infinite cheapness. Failed validation does not consume balance. Public-markets scanners use the same identity on filing EV against reported EBITDA, and the JSON contract does not care which story produced the numerator. Keep EBITDA strictly positive, pin the rounded ebitda_multiple field in tests, and you get a reproducible valuation multiple for widgets, course modules, and edge workers without standing up a comps engine of your own. Portfolio scripts can call the same module in a loop over many tickers; each item is one request, the unit is item, and the free browser path remains byte-for-byte identical to the API so a landing-page preview never lies about the figure that will be stored after a save.
Technical questions
How is the EBITDA multiple calculated from enterprise value and EBITDA?
Send finite numbers enterprise_value and ebitda. The API returns ebitda_multiple as enterprise_value divided by ebitda, rounded to six decimal places.
What does the EBITDA multiple calculator cost?
The browser tool is free. API requests use prepaid KIT balance at $0.002 per successful call; invalid input is not billed.