Profit Margin (Historical) Formula in Excel

Profit Margin (Historical) is an essential Excel formula provided by MarketXLS that allows you to retrieve and analyze a company’s profit margin for a specified historical period. By leveraging actual financial statements and historical data, you gain valuable insight into how profitable a company was at different points in time. Use this MarketXLS function to quickly compare profitability across multiple quarters or years.

Understanding Profit Margin (Historical)

Profit margin is the percentage of revenue that remains after deducting all expenses from sales. Here’s why it’s invaluable:

• Clear Indicator of Profitability: Understand how efficiently a company converts revenue into net profit over specific periods.
• Comparison Over Time: Evaluate performance trends by comparing the profit margin in different quarters or years.
• Informed Investment Decisions: Quickly screen stocks based on historical profitability data.

Syntax and Parameters

Below is the general syntax for the hf_Profit_Margin function in Excel:

=hf_Profit_Margin(symbol, year, [quarter], [TTM])

?? Note: If the symbol is not recognized or if you lack the correct MarketXLS subscription, the function will return "NA".

? Pro Tip: You can reference cells, direct date strings, or Excel date functions for the year parameter. For example:
• Using a cell reference:
=hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", A1)
• Using direct dates by extracting the year:
=hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", YEAR("2024-03-15"))
• Using an Excel date function:
=hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", TEXT(A1,"yyyy"))

Return Value

• A numeric value representing the company’s net profit margin for the specified period.
• Returns "NA" if data is unavailable or if an error occurs.

Special Cases and Limitations

• Data Subscription: A historical fundamentals data subscription is required for this function.
• Invalid Symbols: If the ticker symbol is incorrect, the function returns "NA".
• Performance Considerations: Excessive calls can slow down calculations. To optimize, reference cells for repeated symbols/years.

Examples and Usage

Below are practical examples demonstrating various ways to use hf_Profit_Margin:

1. Retrieve profit margin for a single year:

   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", 2022)

   Returns the annual profit margin for Microsoft in 2022.

2. Specify both year and quarter:

   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", 2022, 2)

   Returns the profit margin for Microsoft in the second quarter of 2022.

3. Trailing twelve months (TTM):

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

   Calculates the trailing 12 months ending with Q3 2022.

4. Special references (last quarter, last year):

   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", "lq")       // Last Quarter
   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", "ly")       // Last Year
   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", "lq-1")     // The Quarter before Last Quarter
   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", "ly-1")     // The Year before Last Year
   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", "lt")       // Last 12 Months
   =hf_Profit_Margin("MSFT", "lt-1")     // Previous Last 12 Months

Common Questions

1. Why does the formula return "NA"?

• The symbol might be invalid or unsupported.
• You may not have an active historical fundamental data subscription.
• Data for that specific time frame (year or quarter) does not exist.

2. How to improve performance for large data sets?

1. Use references to cells containing symbols and years instead of typing each function individually.
2. Update your workbook calculation options or refresh intervals to manage frequent recalculations.

3. Can I use this formula with indices or cryptocurrencies?

Yes! This function works with stock symbols, indices (e.g., ^SPX), options (e.g., @MSFT 110122C00020000), and crypto pairs (e.g., BTCUSD:DEFAULT), provided data is available.

?? Note: Ensure you have the correct MarketXLS subscription plan that supports the type of symbol you are querying.