Calculate capital gains yield from purchase price, ending price, holding period, and position size, then compare price return with dividends, coupons.
Last updated
Display currency
Choose the currency before entering purchase, sale, income, and position values so the labels and results match your market or account.
Quick scenarios
Assumptions
Capital gains yield still measures price return only. The optional income field is there to compare that price-only result with holding-period total return, not to annualize income or model reinvestment, fees, taxes, or stock splits.
Result
Buying at $50.00 and exiting at $62.00 produces a price-only return of 24% over 2 years.
Interpretation note
Capital gains yield is useful when you want to isolate how much return came from the asset's price change. For dividend stocks, funds, and bonds, total return can be materially different because income is excluded from the CGY figure even when it is included for comparison elsewhere on the page.
If you are using this as an expected capital gains yield calculator, treat the ending price as a forecast rather than a fact. The annualized capital gains yield is still based only on the starting price, expected ending price, and holding period.
Price Return Only
A capital gains yield calculator isolates the return created by an asset's price movement between purchase and sale. This page also explains the main assumptions behind the capital gains yield calculator result, highlights the supporting figures shown by the calculator, and helps the reader use the estimate without overstating what a quick online tool can prove.
Capital gains yield looks only at the change in price relative to the starting purchase price. If an asset rises from 50 to 62, the capital gains yield is 24.00% because the 12 gain is measured against the original 50 cost basis.
That makes it different from total return. Total return adds income such as dividends, coupons, or distributions. Capital gains yield intentionally excludes those cash flows so the price component can be examined on its own.
The basic capital gain yield formula is simple: subtract purchase price from ending price, then divide by purchase price. This calculator also annualizes the return over the entered holding period so that a multi-year price move can be compared more fairly with one-year alternatives.
Annualizing does not change the underlying price gain; it changes the way the same result is expressed. That is helpful when the holding period is not exactly one year and you want to compare the investment with other annualized rates of return.
Capital gains yield = (Ending price - Purchase price) / Purchase price
The core price-only return formula used by the calculator.
Annualized capital gains yield = (Ending price / Purchase price)^(1 / Holding period) - 1
The annualized rate that produces the same overall price change across the holding period.
A common mistake is to combine every cash benefit into one percentage and still call it capital gains yield. That is not what the metric is supposed to measure. Capital gains yield covers only the change in market price. Dividends, bond coupons, and other cash distributions belong in income return.
That is why this page now works as a capital gains yield calculator with dividend or coupon comparison rather than a price-only widget. You can enter the cash income separately, keep the capital gains yield clean, and then compare it with the broader holding-period total return. For dividend stocks and bond capital gain yield calculator use cases, that split is usually more helpful than a single blended percentage.
Income yield = Cash income received / Purchase price
Shows the part of holding-period return that came from dividends, coupons, or other cash distributions.
Total return yield = Capital gains yield + Income yield
Combines the price-return component and the income-return component for the same holding period.
Percentages are useful for comparing investments, but investors also need to know the money amount. A 24% capital gains yield means something different on 10 shares than on 1,000 shares. That is why the calculator includes a shares, bonds, or units field: it keeps the CGY formula unchanged while translating the per-unit price gain, income, and total return into position-level values.
This is also useful when checking a spreadsheet. You can calculate the per-share capital gain first, multiply by units held, and then compare that position price gain with dividends or coupon income. The yield stays a clean price-only percentage, while the position rows show the practical impact in currency terms.
Position price gain = (Ending price - Purchase price) × Units held
Turns the price-only gain per share, bond, or unit into the whole-position capital gain or loss.
Position total return = Position price gain + (Income per unit × Units held)
Combines the whole-position price return and cash income while keeping capital gains yield separate.
Suppose an investment is purchased at 50 and sold at 62 two years later. The price gain is 12, so the capital gains yield is 24.00%. Annualized, that works out to about 11.36% per year.
If the investment also paid dividends during those two years, those cash flows would not be included here. They belong in total-return analysis. Keeping the two pieces separate makes it easier to see whether performance came from price growth, income, or both. If the investor held 100 shares, the same price move would represent 1,200 of position-level price gain before any income is added.
Sometimes the job is not to explain what already happened, but to estimate what could happen if an asset reaches a target sale price. In that planning case, the entered ending price is an assumption rather than a historical fact. The result becomes an expected capital gains yield calculator workflow built from your own price forecast.
That can be useful when comparing a growth stock thesis, a bond bought at a discount, or any other investment where you want to test a range of possible exit prices. The key is to keep the limitation visible: expected capital gains yield is only as good as the forecast ending price and the assumed holding period.
If you want the capital gains yield formula in Excel, the core version is simply =(EndingPrice-PurchasePrice)/PurchasePrice. The annualized version is =(EndingPrice/PurchasePrice)^(1/HoldingPeriodYears)-1. Spreadsheet users often build those formulas first and then layer in a separate income-yield line so the total return can be compared without corrupting the capital-gains figure.
That spreadsheet framing is useful because it reinforces the logic of the calculator on this page: price return and income return should be tracked as related but distinct lines. If you collapse them too early, you lose the ability to tell whether the investment thesis worked because of market appreciation, because of income, or because of both.
A strong capital gains yield does not automatically mean a better total result if another asset delivered more income. The reverse is also true: a flat or negative capital gains yield can still coexist with a positive total return if income distributions were large enough.
That is why capital gains yield is best used as a component measure. It is especially helpful for comparing growth-oriented assets, separating dividend and price return, and understanding how much of a bond or stock return came from market-price movement rather than cash income.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
Capital gains yield includes only the asset's price change. Total return also includes cash income such as dividends, coupons, or other distributions received during the holding period.
Because annualization converts a multi-year price change into a per-year equivalent rate. It does not change the gain; it changes the time basis used to describe it.
Yes. If the ending price is below the purchase price, the calculator reports a negative capital gains yield because the price change is a capital loss rather than a gain.
Not in this version. This calculator is a pre-tax, pre-fee price-return measure. If you want after-tax or after-fee performance, those adjustments need to be modeled separately.
Capital gains yield itself does not need a share count because the percentage is based on price change per unit. The position-size field is included so you can also see the actual price gain, income, and total return in currency terms for the amount you held.
No. Capital gains yield measures only the percentage change in market price from purchase to sale. Dividends, coupons, and other cash income belong in income yield or total-return analysis rather than inside the capital gains yield itself.
Yes, if you want to isolate the bond's price movement between purchase and sale. Enter coupon income separately if you also want to compare price return with total holding-period return. That keeps the bond capital gain yield distinct from coupon yield.
Use the same formula, but treat the ending price as an estimate rather than an observed sale price. That turns the worksheet into an expected capital gains yield calculator. The result depends entirely on how realistic the assumed exit price and holding period are.
The basic spreadsheet formula is =(EndingPrice-PurchasePrice)/PurchasePrice. If you want the annualized price-only rate, use =(EndingPrice/PurchasePrice)^(1/HoldingPeriodYears)-1. Keep dividends or coupons on a separate line if you also want total return.
Also in Saving & Investing
Related
These related calculators come from the same leaf category, nearby sibling categories, or the same top-level topic.
Use this dividend yield calculator to annualise dividend payments, calculate current yield, compare yield on cost, and estimate dividend income.
Calculate stock-trade profit or loss from share count, buy and sell prices, fees, dividends, and holding period.
Calculate investment return metrics including ROI, ROAS, ROE, ROA, ROIC, rate of return, real return, annualized return, holding-period return, Sharpe ratio.
Calculate bond price, current yield, yield to maturity, yield to call, bond-equivalent yield, coupon payments, coupon rate.
