Futures trade P&L tool
Futures Profit Calculator
Calculate gross and net profit or loss for a long or short futures trade. Use either tick size and tick value or the contract value per point, then include round-trip fees and optional initial margin.
Futures trade result
Futures profit formula
A futures contract converts a quoted price movement into money using a contract multiplier, often described as value per point. When tick size and tick value are known, the same multiplier is derived from their ratio.
Gross P&L = signed price move × value per point × contracts
Net P&L = gross P&L − round-trip fees × contracts
Long signed move = exit − entry; short signed move = entry − exit
The break-even exit includes only the entered round-trip fee: entry plus fee per contract divided by value per point for a long, or entry minus that amount for a short. Slippage, bid-ask spread, financing and taxes are excluded.
Worked futures examples
Long trade using ticks
Suppose a contract has a 0.25 tick size and a 12.50 tick value. A move from 5,250 to 5,260 equals 10 points or 40 ticks. Two long contracts produce gross P&L of 40 × 12.50 × 2 = 1,000. With 4.50 of round-trip fees per contract, total fees are 9 and net profit is 991. If initial margin is 12,000 per contract, the estimated return on 24,000 of entered margin is 4.1292%.
Short trade using value per point
For a short entered at 18,000 and exited at 17,975, the favorable move is 25 points. If each point is worth 20 per contract and three contracts are traded, gross profit is 25 × 20 × 3 = 1,500. With 5 in round-trip fees per contract, net profit is 1,485.
Losing trade
A long entered at 100 and exited at 98 loses 2 points. With a value of 10 per point, four contracts and 3 of fees per contract, gross P&L is −80 and net P&L is −92. Fees deepen a loss and can turn a small gross gain into a net loss.
Ticks, points and contract value
| Term | Meaning | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Point | A full 1.00 change in the quoted futures price. | Point value = tick value ÷ tick size. |
| Tick | The contract’s minimum allowed price increment. | Ticks moved = price move ÷ tick size. |
| Tick value | Money gained or lost per tick for one contract. | Gross P&L = ticks × tick value × contracts. |
| Contract multiplier | Money exposure represented by a one-point move. | Equivalent to value per point in this calculator. |
How this differs from position sizing
This page calculates the outcome of a specified futures trade from entry, exit and contract specifications. The Position Size Calculator starts with an account-risk budget and stop distance to estimate quantity for stocks, crypto or forex. Profit calculation and pre-trade position sizing are separate decisions.
Limits and assumptions
- Prices must be positive and may contain up to eight decimal places. Entry and exit can be equal.
- Contract count must be a whole number from 1 to 1,000,000.
- Tick size, tick value and point value must be positive. In tick mode, the entry-to-exit difference must be a whole number of ticks within numerical tolerance.
- Round-trip fees may be zero and are entered per contract. The calculator does not separately model opening and closing fees.
- Optional margin must be positive. Return on margin is net P&L divided by entered initial margin, not return on total notional exposure.
- Daily settlement, variation margin, currency conversion, leverage changes, slippage, spread, market limits, funding, interest and taxes are excluded.
- Examples are illustrative contract specifications, not live quotes or a recommendation to trade a particular product.
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