Capital Gains Yield Calculator

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Capital gains

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Capital gains yield

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What is Capital Gains Yield?

The capital gains yield calculator measures a price change relative to the original purchase price. It answers a simple question: how large is the increase or decrease compared with what the asset cost per unit? The page returns both the monetary price difference and that difference expressed as a percentage.

This is a price-only measure. It does not add dividends, interest, distributions, dealing fees or taxes, and it does not annualize the result. An asset rising from 40 to 50 has a 25% capital gains yield whether the change took one month or five years. Time and other cash flows need separate analysis before calling it a full investment return.

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How to Use This Calculator

  1. Enter Bought price as the starting price for the asset or unit being compared. Use a positive baseline; the ordinary percentage-change formula cannot divide by a zero purchase price.
  2. Enter Current price for the same unit and a specified later date. If comparing a sale, the sale price can serve as the ending price for this arithmetic.
  3. Use the same currency, quantity basis and price-adjustment convention for both entries. Currency dropdowns label amounts but do not obtain exchange rates or convert values.
  4. Choose Calculate. Read Capital gains as the difference between the prices and Capital gains yield as the percentage of the purchase price.
  5. Check whether the purpose requires total return, annualized return or a tax basis. Add the relevant analysis separately rather than assuming this two-price result includes those concepts.
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Formula Used

Capital gain per compared unit = current price − purchase price. Capital gains yield = (current price − purchase price)/purchase price × 100%.
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Variables Explained

ItemMeaning
Bought priceThe baseline price used in the denominator. It should represent the same unit of the same asset as the ending price.
Current priceThe later comparison price. For an unsold asset, the difference describes an unrealized price change rather than a completed cash receipt.
Capital gains outputThe monetary price difference for the values entered. If the inputs are per share, this output is per share too.
Yield percentagePrice change relative to the starting price. Positive values indicate an increase and negative values indicate a decline.
Currency labelA display convention, not an exchange-rate calculation. Convert to one common currency before comparing prices denominated differently.
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Worked Example

An asset bought at 40 is now priced at 50. The gain is 50 − 40 = 10 per unit. Yield is 10/40 × 100 = 25%. For 100 identical units, the price-only monetary change would be 100 × 10 = 1000, while the percentage remains 25%.

If the price instead falls from 40 to 30, the change is −10 and the yield is −10/40 × 100 = −25%. Recovering from 30 back to 40 then requires a gain of 10/30 × 100 ≈ 33.33%. Equal monetary moves can produce different percentages because the baseline changes.

Suppose the original 40-to-50 investment also paid a distribution of 2 per unit. The price-only yield remains 25% on this page. A simple distribution-inclusive return before fees would be (10 + 2)/40 × 100 = 30%. That separate example explains why price change and total return should not be used interchangeably.

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Why Use This Calculator?

The percentage makes price changes comparable across different starting prices, but it does not make different holding periods equivalent. A 25% gain over one year and a 25% gain over five years share the same price-only percentage while having different annualized growth rates. A period-aware calculation is needed for that comparison.

The output also is not a tax calculation. Taxable gain can depend on cost-basis rules, transaction costs, corporate actions, currency rules and other circumstances. This form collects none of that information. Keep the result described as the mathematical difference between the two supplied prices.

Corporate actions can make raw prices misleading. A stock split changes the per-share price and share count without necessarily creating an equivalent economic loss. Use consistently adjusted prices or compare total position values on an appropriate basis. The calculator cannot detect that an apparent fall resulted from a split rather than a market decline.

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Common Mistakes

    • Do not divide the gain by the current price. This yield uses the original purchase price as its baseline.
    • Do not enter the value of an entire position in one field and a per-unit price in the other.
    • Do not describe an unrealized gain as cash already received unless the asset was actually sold.
    • Do not assume the word yield means annual income. This page calculates an unannualized price change.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Can the result be negative?

Yes. When current price is below purchase price, both the difference and the yield are negative. For a positive starting price and a zero ending price, the price-only loss is 100%.

Should I enter the number of shares?

The form does not ask for quantity. Use comparable per-share prices for a per-share change, or comparable total position values if no quantity changes complicate the comparison. Do not mix the two bases.

Are dividends included?

No. The inputs contain only two prices. A total-return calculation must incorporate dividends or other distributions with the relevant timing and reinvestment assumptions.

How do I compare different holding periods?

Use a method that accounts for elapsed time and any cash flows. A CAGR calculation may be appropriate for a simple no-cash-flow endpoint comparison, but it does not solve every return-measurement situation.

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Sources & References

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