Return On Sales (Historical) Formula in Excel

In this guide, we explore how to use the Return On Sales (Historical) formula in Excel with MarketXLS. This powerful function helps investors and analysts quickly determine a company's efficiency at converting sales revenue into profit, enabling better financial decision-making.

Understanding Return On Sales (Historical)

Return On Sales (ROS) measures the ratio of operating income to net sales. Here’s why it’s important:

• Profitability Insight: The higher the Return On Sales, the more efficiently a company is managing its operations.
• Historical Analysis: Evaluate trends in the company’s ROS over time to gauge performance.
• Decision-Making: Compare multiple companies’ Return On Sales metrics for better investment research.

Syntax and Parameters

Below is the syntax for the hf_Return_on_Sales function. Use it in Excel to retrieve the Return On Sales (Historical) for a specific symbol and period.

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

?? Note: If the function can’t find valid data or if your MarketXLS license is not compatible, the function returns "NA".

Return Value

• Returns a numeric value representing the Return On Sales (ROS) for the specified historical period.
• If data is unavailable, the function returns "NA".

Date Input Formats

While this function specifically expects a reporting year, you can still reference dates in Excel in various ways:

1. Cell references:

   =hf_Return_on_Sales(A1, B1)

2. Direct dates (if your workflow calculates or converts specific dates into a year format):

   =hf_Return_on_Sales("MSFT", "2024-03-15")

3. Excel date functions (if you convert from a date to a year or pass text in "yyyy-mm-dd" format):

   =hf_Return_on_Sales(TEXT(A1,"yyyy"), TEXT(A1,"yyyy-mm-dd"))

Examples and Usage

Below are common ways to use the Return On Sales (Historical) formula in Excel:

1. Retrieve Return On Sales for a specific year:

   =hf_Return_on_Sales("MSFT", 2022)

   This returns the ROS for the year 2022.

2. Specify quarter:

   =hf_Return_on_Sales("MSFT", 2022, 2)

   Retrieves the ROS for the 2nd quarter of 2022.

3. Use trailing twelve months (TTM):

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

   Fetches the TTM ROS up to the 3rd quarter of 2022.

4. Last quarter (lq) without specifying a year:

   =hf_Return_on_Sales("MSFT", "lq")

   Fetches the most recent quarter's ROS.

5. Last year (ly) usage:

   =hf_Return_on_Sales("MSFT", "ly")

   Pulls the ROS for the most recent full year.

? Pro Tip: You can combine modifiers like "lq-1" or "ly-1" to look back further. For example, "lq-1" retrieves data for one quarter prior to the last quarter.

Common Questions

1. Why am I getting "NA"?

• Invalid symbol or no data available.
• License subscription does not cover historical fundamental data.
• Check spelling and ensure your time period is within the company’s public filing history.

2. How can I improve performance?

• Limit the number of calls per sheet.
• Use references over multiple cells instead of calling the function repeatedly.
• Update calculations manually if your sheet is large.

3. What other related metrics should I look at?

• Revenue (Historical)
• Cost Of Revenue (Historical)
• Gross Profit (Historical)
• R&D Expenses (Historical)
• Selling General and Administrative Expense (Historical)

Combine these metrics with Return On Sales to gain a comprehensive understanding of a company’s profitability and operational efficiency.