Foreign Sales (Historical) Formula in Excel

Excel users looking to analyze a company's revenue from non-domestic customers over a given year or period can benefit from the Foreign Sales (Historical) formula offered by MarketXLS. This function provides quick access to historical international sales data, beneficial for evaluating global market exposure and making more informed investment decisions.

Understanding Foreign Sales (Historical)

• Purpose: Retrieves historical revenue figures from a company’s non-domestic (foreign) customers.
• Use Cases:
  • Determining the proportion of revenue derived from international operations.
  • Analyzing a company's global diversification strategy.
  • Evaluating investment risks associated with overseas markets.
• Key Benefits:
  • Simplifies financial analysis in Excel without manually searching for data.
  • Automates data retrieval from MarketXLS’s extensive financial database.
  • Offers flexibility to query specific periods (quarters, years, trailing months).

Syntax and Parameters

Use the formula as shown below:

=hf_Foreign_Sales(Symbol, Year, [Quarter], [TTM])

?? Note: The function returns "NA" for invalid tickers or if your MarketXLS license does not support this feature.

Return Value

• Typically returns a numeric value representing the revenue amount in USD (if available).
• If data is not available or an invalid parameter is supplied, the function returns "NA".

Special Cases & Error Handling

1. Invalid Symbol: The function returns "NA".
2. License Restrictions: If your account plan does not support fundamentals data, the function returns "NA".
3. Performance Consideration: Each call fetches data from MarketXLS’s servers. Multiple calls in a large sheet may increase calculation time.

? Pro Tip: Use Excel’s cell references (e.g., =hf_Foreign_Sales(A2, A3)) to simplify and automate your workflow.

Examples and Usage

Below are focused examples illustrating how to apply the formula in real scenarios:

1. Basic Usage for a Specific Year

   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "2022")

   • Returns Microsoft’s foreign sales for the year 2022.

2. Fetch Data by Quarter

   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "2022", 2)

   • Returns foreign sales for the second quarter of 2022.

3. Use Trailing Twelve Months (TTM)

   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "2022", 3, "TTM")

   • Returns trailing twelve-month data from quarter 3 of 2022.

4. Last Quarter and Last Year Shortcuts

   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "lq")
   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "ly")

   • Pulls data for the most recently reported quarter and year respectively.

5. Adjusting “Last Quarter” or “Last Year”

   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "lq-1")
   =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", "ly-1")

   • Retrieves data for the quarter or year immediately preceding the last reported.

?? Note: If you see “NA” or unexpected results, confirm your symbol format or license level.

Common Questions

1. What if I need data for indexes or cryptocurrencies?

   • Simply pass the symbol or crypto pair, e.g., "^SPX" or "BTCUSD:DEFAULT", as the Symbol parameter.

2. Can I use references for Year or Symbol?

   • Yes! For example:

     =hf_Foreign_Sales(A2, A3)

     where A2 contains "MSFT" and A3 contains "2022".

3. How do I handle date inputs if I have them in a cell?

   • While this function specifically requires a year or placeholder, you can convert date cells to strings, e.g.:

     =hf_Foreign_Sales("MSFT", TEXT(A1,"yyyy"))

     if A1 contains a valid Excel date.

4. Is trailing twelve-month data always updated?

   • MarketXLS updates financial data regularly. TTM figures reflect the latest reported quarter plus the previous three quarters.

5. I only see “NA” for certain foreign sales data. Why?

   • Data availability can vary by company or region. Not all companies disclose detailed foreign revenue breakdowns.

For additional details, you may also explore:

• Revenue (Historical): Returns the company’s total revenue for a specified historical period.
• Cost Of Revenue (Historical): Shows total cost of revenue for a chosen period.
• Gross Profit (Historical): Retrieves the gross profit for a given timeframe.
• R & D Expenses (Historical): Indicates the amount spent on research and development.
• Selling General and Administrative Expense (Historical): Provides SG&A expense data.

This formula helps investors and analysts quickly see a company’s global sales exposure, streamlining the financial analysis process in Excel.