hf_pre_tax_profit_margin to Retrieve Pre-Tax Profit Margin in Excel

The hf_pre_tax_profit_margin function in MarketXLS provides a quick way to retrieve a company's pre-tax profit margin for a specified year and quarter or on a trailing 12-month (TTM) basis. With just a simple Excel formula, you can analyze how a company's profitability (before taxes) compares across time periods. It’s perfect for quarterly comparisons, historical trend analysis, or including in screening models.

Why Use This Function?

  • Provides direct access to a company’s pre-tax profit margin without manual data gathering.
  • Lets you request specific quarters (e.g., Q1 to Q4) or TTM data for deeper profitability insights.
  • Ideal for comparing different companies’ margins in Excel side by side.
  • Supports US-listed stocks and can work with other supported markets (e.g., Indian equities) when permitted by your plan.
  • Helpful for screening and advanced valuation or margin-based trading strategies.

How to Use in Excel

Simply type the following into a cell:

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

• Symbol: The stock ticker (e.g., "AAPL").
• Year: The specific fiscal year you want to evaluate (e.g., "2022").
• Quarter: The fiscal quarter number (1 to 4). If you omit Quarter, the add-in will use a default setting internally (generally Q2 in the URL).
• TTM (optional): If set to "TTM", the function returns the trailing 12-month pre-tax profit margin instead of a single quarter.

After you press Enter, MarketXLS will pull the requested data from its fundamental APIs, returning the company’s pre-tax profit margin as a numeric value (often expressed in decimal form).

Parameters Explained

Parameter Description Example Values Notes
Symbol The stock ticker symbol to evaluate. "AAPL", "MSFT", "TSLA" Valid US tickers or supported market symbols. Make sure you have the license coverage for the market you are interested in.
Year The year of the financial data you need. "2022", "2020" If data for this year is unavailable, the function may return "NA".
Quarter Optional quarter of the year (1, 2, 3, or 4). 1, 2, 3, 4 Default behavior internally sets Quarter to a specific value (Q2) if left blank; passing "1" returns Q1 data, etc.
[TTM] Optional. Pass "TTM" to retrieve trailing 12 months margin. "TTM" or leave it empty Setting this overrides the Quarter parameter.

Note: The function checks license validity. If your license does not support this feature, you may see a message like “Not supported on your plan” or “NA.”

Example Usage

Basic Examples

  1. Retrieve Apple’s Q1 pre-tax profit margin for 2022: » =hf_pre_tax_profit_margin("AAPL","2022",1)
    This returns the Q1 pre-tax margin for Apple in 2022 if that data is available.

  2. Retrieve Microsoft’s Q3 pre-tax profit margin for 2021: » =hf_pre_tax_profit_margin("MSFT","2021",3)
    Compares how their pre-tax margin tracks over time.

  3. Return Tesla’s trailing 12-month pre-tax margin: » =hf_pre_tax_profit_margin("TSLA","2022",, "TTM")
    Notice how the Quarter parameter is skipped, and "TTM" is used as the 4th argument.

Advanced Scenarios

• Historical Trend Analysis: Use multiple cells each referencing different quarters (Q1–Q4) across multiple years. For example, you can create a table comparing 2019 to 2023 to see year-over-year changes in Tesla’s pre-tax margin.
• Margin-Based Screening: Combine hf_pre_tax_profit_margin with other ratio functions (like ROI, EPS, etc.) to create a custom screener that identifies companies outperforming a certain threshold.
• Integration with Other Excel Functions: You can nest or reference the output of hf_pre_tax_profit_margin in other formulas. For instance, you might compare a company’s pre-tax margin to an average margin across a sector with standard Excel functions.

Common Questions and Troubleshooting

• Why do I see “NA” or “Refreshing”?

  • “NA” can appear if data is not available, the symbol is invalid, or your license does not support the feature.
  • “Refreshing” may appear when MarketXLS is still fetching data in the background.

• Can I use partial or future year values?

  • The function is designed for completed quarters/years. If the underlying financial data is incomplete, you may get “NA.”

• Why is my TTM value different from adding up the quarters manually?

  • TTM calculations can roll forward each quarter. If underlying data updates or restates, TTM can differ from a direct sum of certain quarters.

• Are there region restrictions?

  • While the function can handle some markets (US, India, etc.), your plan must support the region you query. Otherwise, it may return “Not supported on your plan.”

By using hf_pre_tax_profit_margin, you can seamlessly integrate pre-tax margin data into your Excel workflows for more robust financial evaluation and decision-making. It’s a powerful tool for fundamental and technical analysts seeking quick and reliable profitability insights—all directly in Excel.