In the current context of China’s economic transition, focusing on the issue of corporate innovation performance can lay a solid foundation for the acceleration of the digital transformation process as well as the improvement of corporate innovation performance. This paper selects the relevant data of a listed enterprise from 2018 to 2023 as a research sample for empirical analysis. Combined with the DIT model to test the role of digital transformation on innovation performance, and on the two perspectives of financing constraints and intellectual property protection, it specifically studies the mediating effect and adjustment mechanism between digital transformation and enterprise innovation performance. Finally, from the perspective of enterprise heterogeneity (whether stateowned or not, enterprise size, geographical policy), the actual impact of digital transformation on performance under different enterprises is specifically analyzed. The results show that digital transformation has a positive effect on enterprise innovation performance, and digital transformation can reduce financing constraints to a certain extent, ensure sufficient financial support for enterprise operations, and contribute to the improvement of enterprise innovation performance. Research on the moderating mechanism shows that intellectual property rights have a positive impact on digital transformation to promote the enhancement of enterprise innovation performance. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that digital transformation has a more prominent effect on innovation performance in large-scale enterprises.