On this page is a NASDAQ Composite Index total return calculator. It lets you estimate the return contribution of reinvested dividends to a theoretical NASDAQ investment, and further adjust those returns for inflation to calculate an estimated total return.

For last year, see the 2025 NASDAQ Return. Also see the 2024 NASDAQ Return.

NASDAQ Total Return Calculator (with inflation adjustment)

To estimate a NASDAQ investment return, pick a starting and ending month and choose whether to adjust for inflation. Everything updates as you change. You can click Show Chart to graph the growth of $10,000 over your window.

• Starting Month / Starting Year – the starting month of a theoretical investment in the NASDAQ Composite Index.
• Ending Month / Ending Year – the ending month (or the month sold) of an investment in the NASDAQ Composite Index.
• Adjust for Inflation (CPI)? – whether to adjust returns for inflation (checked) or show nominal returns. Adjust for inflation to compare against other already-adjusted returns – investments are in nominal dollars, so the adjusted result is what you'd see in real, purchasing-power terms.

Depending on your choices above, you can quote estimated returns from a NASDAQ investment with a few assumptions.

• Total NASDAQ Price Return – the total price return of the NASDAQ Composite Index, using only the average closing price in the starting and ending month (no dividends).
• Annualized NASDAQ Price Return – that price return expressed as a return per year.
• Total NASDAQ Return (Dividends Reinvested) – a better estimate of total return over the holding period, reinvesting estimated dividends into more shares along the way.
• Annualized NASDAQ Return (Dividends Reinvested) – the annualized (return per year) estimate of the total return on an investment in the NASDAQ Composite.
• Inflation Adjusted (CPI)? – an informational box telling you whether the most recent scenario was adjusted for inflation, using CPI-U (the US Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers).

Click Show Chart to plot both paths as the growth of $10,000: the green line shows total return (reinvests dividends), the gray line is price only. The gap between them is the dividend reinvestment contribution piling up over time. Tick Log scale for a logarithmic vertical axis, which keeps long, multi-decade windows readable.

All months (except the last month in the tool, as listed) use daily average closing price. That is, monthly prices are a blended average, and you can't point to an individual day of an investment.

Methodology for the NASDAQ Return Calculator

For official NASDAQ data, visit Nasdaq, Inc.'s Indices page. Here is the tool's methodology:

1. 'Month' is an average. The numbers behind the results do not correspond to particular dates but to monthly average closing prices on the NASDAQ. Dividends are based on trailing twelve-month dividend estimates.
   
   The results are closer to how an 'average investor' would have performed buying on a random date and time in the starting month and selling on a random date and time in the ending month. There is no 'exact date' data in the tool (other than in the most recent month).
2. Fees are not included. Mutual funds and ETFs track the NASDAQ Composite, but they are a relatively recent phenomenon. Whether purchasing stocks individually or investing through a fund, a real investor would have almost certainly paid fees to track the index. An individual investor trying to track the NASDAQ might incur fees for buying, selling, reinvesting, maintaining their account, etc.
3. Data only goes back to 1973. The NASDAQ Composite began trading in 1971.
4. Taxes are not included.

Sources for the NASDAQ Calculator

• Nasdaq, Inc.'s Indexes Page
• Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (Downloaded from the St. Louis Fed)
• NYSE vs NASDAQ returns Market microstructure or the poor performance of initial public offerings? Tim Loughran (1993)
• Bubbles in the dividend–price ratio? Evidence from an asymmetric exponential smooth-transition model David G. McMillan (2007)
• Predicting the equity premium with dividend ratios: Reconciling the evidence Neil M. Kellard, John C. Nankervis, Fotios I. Papadimitriou (2010)
• EXPLOSIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE 1990s NASDAQ: WHEN DID EXUBERANCE ESCALATE ASSET VALUES? Peter C. B. Phillips, Yangru Wu and Jun Yu (2011)
• Signalling the Dotcom bubble: A multiple changes in persistence approach Vitor Leonea, Otavio Ribeiro de Medeiros (2015)
• Changes in the Composition of Publicly Traded Firms: Implications for the Dividend-Price Ratio and Return Predictability Stephan Jank (2015)
• Identifying asset pricing bubbles Testing for explosive behavior in the NASDAQ and STOXX 600 Europe Technology indices Smits Van Oyen, Tim and Elmer, Mathias (2016)

Disclaimers for the NASDAQ Return Calculator

This information is for research and educational purposes only. Dividends, inflation, and closing prices are derived from a sampling of many sources (listed above) and compiled into the calculator's data. DQYDJ can make no guarantees to its accuracy. You should verify any results with other sources.

All numbers are approximations of actual investor performance. They do not account for fees, taxes, timing, slippage, and hundreds of other effects on actual performance. NASDAQ tracking funds are a recent invention, and I don't consider the tracking errors of an individual investor buying and selling thousands of stocks.

None of the data in our calculator matches any exact dividend payout dates nor index closing prices on any individual date.

Dividend reinvestment adds up

As I talked about way back when I created the S&P 500 total return calculator, financial journalists (and social media commentators!) often produce unfair comparisons of investment returns on stocks and indices. Commonly, they neglect the effect of reinvesting dividends on ultimate investment returns, using price returns when total returns are more appropriate. Other times, they'll compare nominal returns to inflation-adjusted numbers.

And, even on the NASDAQ: dividend reinvestment matters.

The NASDAQ Composite Index first started tracking stocks in 1971. Companies listed on NASDAQ were traditionally biased towards less profitable and higher-growth potential stocks. To a degree, that tradition has held – compared to the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average, there are fewer dividend payers in the NASDAQ Composite.

But this tool may better illustrate the importance of dividends than my others. When reinvested, even a relatively small dividend payout makes a significant difference over time. Try more prolonged periods and see for yourself – it adds up.

Other posts

I built a tool to analyze rolling period returns at the NASDAQ Historical Return Calculator.

Try the ETF return calculator and mutual fund return calculator for individual investors. I've also built an S&P 500 Return Calculator and a Dow Jones Industrial Average Return Calculator.

Alternatively, see all the investment tools I've built here.

The NASDAQ returned 42.13% in 2023. Using a better calculation, which includes dividend reinvestment, the NASDAQ returned 43.31%.

The 2023 NASDAQ Return: what a difference a year makes

These returns assumed you bought the NASDAQ index at the open on January 3rd, 2023 and sold at close on December 29, 2023. If you prefer a 'full year' of history and instead bought the close on December 30, 2022, those numbers are 43.42% and 44.64%, respectively.

2023 NASDAQ Index Price Return

Price Based On	2023 Begin	Dec 29 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	10,562.06	15,011.35	42.13%
Dec 30 Close	10,466.48	15,011.35	43.42%

NASDAQ Reinvested Dividend Return in 2023

Price Based On	2023 Begin	Dec 29 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	12,705.30	18,208.50	43.31%
Dec 30 Close	12,588.95	18,208.50	44.64%

The timing doesn't matter much - and, let's be serious: it's impossible to buy the exact open and close price (not to mention index tracking errors, fees, slippage, and other factors that would throw you off). But, interestingly, you can see that factoring in dividends matters. That's right, even for a technology-heavy index which tends to shun dividends to reinvest in growth, dividends made a material difference.

And, wow, what a return in 2023!

Source on the 2023 NASDAQ Return Calculations

NASDAQ Indexes (appropriately!) owns the NASDAQ. At their site, you'll find the index level and total return data. Find NASDAQ total return data here or on investing.com.

See NASDAQ returns in other years:

• 2022 NASDAQ Return
• 2021 NASDAQ Return
• 2020 NASDAQ Return
• 2019 NASDAQ Return
• 2018 NASDAQ Return
• 2017 NASDAQ Return
• 2016 NASDAQ Return
• 2015 NASDAQ Return
• 2014 NASDAQ Return

The Dow Jones Industrial Average returned 13.70% in 2023. Using a better calculation including dividend reinvestment, the Dow Jones returned 16.18%.

2023 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return: Hold!

I ran the above calculation from open on January 3rd, 2023 and a sale at close on December 29, 2023. That is, of course, impossible to time perfectly – but it is suggestive of the excellent year we just saw in stock.

Hilariously, to the same significance, it's the same result if you run the numbers from December 30, 2021's close price instead (S&P does not report a different close price from the January 3 open). And either way, the index made up for its losses in 2022.

Dow Jones 2023 Index Returns

Price Based On	2023 Begin	Dec 29 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	33,148.90	37,689.54	13.70%
Dec 30 Close	33,147.25	37,689.54	13.70%

Dow Jones 2023 Total Return Index Returns

Price Based On	2023 Begin	Dec 29 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	79,728.48	92,630.25	16.18%
Dec 30 Close	79,728.48	92,630.25	16.18%

The Dow Jones tends to include mature companies which pay more of their earnings out in dividends. It's especially important to consider the efefct of those dividends – whether you reinvest them or not – in your performance, if you are a Dow investor.

Investing in the Dow Jones Price-Weighted Stock Index

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index. Price-weighted indices derive their index value by taking the trading price of the underlying company shares times some "individual stock factor". Most stock indices nowadays are market capitalization weighted, (see the 2023 S&P 500 Return).

Price weighting is not as good an indexing method. However, it does track large cap companies well (at least outside many of the tech giants, this year). But usually, indices weighted by market capitalization is the superior methodology to track a basket of stocks.

Source on the 2023 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return Calculations

Dow Jones Indices is owned by S&P Dow Jones Indices. They run both the Dow Jones Total Return and Price Indices.

Historically, here on DQYDJ we have gone pretty far with our content – both in investing, and with some Dow Jones specific posts and tools:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend Reinvestment Calculator
  Estimate Dow Jones performance and returns back to 1896
• Dow Jones Industrial Average Historical Return Calculator
  Summary statistics on the Dow Jones over periods you choose.

See DJIA returns in other years:

• 2022 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2021 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2020 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2019 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2018 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2017 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2016 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2015 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2014 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return

The S&P 500 Price index returned 23.79% in 2023. Using a better calculation which includes dividend reinvestment, the S&P 500 returned 25.83%.

The 2023 S&P 500 Return: Revenge on 2022

For the calculation I did above, I assumed you bought the open price of the S&P 500 on January 3, 2023, and sold the close price on December 29, 2023. For various reasons, that is impossible – however, it's my best take on investing 'all in one year'.

If you instead are searching for a one-year span, those numbers look like a 24.23% and 26.29% gain, respectively. That calculation instead assumes you bought the December 30, 2022 close.

Either way? The index did well, and cancelled out losses it had in 2021. Well, almost, at least according to price level – the S&P 500 opened on January 3, 2021 at 4,778.14. You did, however, make a nominal gain if you reinvested dividends (I link past editions of this post below).

S&P 500 Index Price Calculation

Price Based On	2023 Begin	Dec 29 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	3,853.29	4,769.83	23.79%
Dec 30 Close	3,839.50	4,769.83	24.23%

S&P 500 Total Return Price Calculation

Price Based On	2023 Begin	Dec 29 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	8,207.69	10,327.83	25.83%
Dec 30 Close	8,178.02	10,327.83	26.29%

Dividends Matter

The exact date you pick doesn't much matter... as long as you keep your timeframes consistent. (However, you do need to mind the dividends!)

It was a very weak year for equity returns in the United States. Coming off the stimulative environment (or excesses, as some would argue...) of the early COVID Pandemic, stocks fell as Federal reserves across the world increased rates and sold assets (or allowed assets to roll off their balance sheets). However, when you consider dividend reinvestment, your returns "didn't look as bad."

Yes, they were still weak. But including dividends is an important consideration.

Source on the 2023 S&P 500 Return Calculations

S&P Dow Jones Indices owns the S&P 500 Index and its total return index. They added the total return index in 1987. Before then, you have to construct your own index proxy to see how the index has fared.

We have a collection of investing calculators and tools – most including provisions for dividend, coupon, or interest reinvestment. Here are some which highlight the S&P 500:

• S&P 500 Dividend Reinvestment Calculator
  Dividend reinvestment calculations on the S&P 500 back as far as we can cover them – 1871, as of now
• S&P 500 Periodic Reinvestment and Dividend Calculator
  A tool which additionally tries to estimate fees and taxes. Allows periodic scheduled additions to investments.
• S&P 500 Historical Return Calculator
  See the average, median, best, and worst returns on the S&P 500 over a time period.

The 2023 S&P 500 Return

You can quickly find the S&P 500 and Total Return index at Yahoo!. Here's a graph showing the difference in the indices in 2023:

Other years:

• 2022 S&P 500 Return
• 2021 S&P 500 Return
• 2020 S&P 500 Return
• 2019 S&P 500 Return
• 2018 S&P 500 Return
• 2017 S&P 500 Return
• 2016 S&P 500 Return
• 2015 S&P 500 Return
• 2014 S&P 500 Return
• 2013 S&P 500 Return
• 2012 S&P 500 Return

On this page, you'll find an automatically updating history of the S&P 500 profit margin and the profit margin using the most recent trailing twelve month sales and earnings data. Additionally, find summary statistics on the maximum, minimum, average, and median profit margin, along with the history of the S&P 500 profit margin.

Under the exhaustive profit margin table, you'll find a visualization tool. Use it to graph the S&P 500 profit margin for the date range of your interest.

S&P 500 Profit Margin History Tool

Historical S&P 500 Profit Margin

Below is the monthly history of the S&P 500 Profit Margin ratio. Use the S&P 500 Return Calculator to see the most recent data details. Use the accordion below to expand the section and reveal the profit margin data.

The table shows the monthly estimates of earnings and sales per share, then the resulting monthly profit margin.

Using the S&P 500 Profit Margin Tool

The S&P 500 profit margin visualization tool lets you zoom in and out on the margin history. You can see individual point estimates directly from the graph. Hover on desktop or laptop, or tap the graph on mobile or tablet to see the monthly value.

The graph on the bottom will control the zoom. Drag the window or move the handles on the right and left of the smaller window and change the historical view in the top graph.

On the top right of the main graph, there are a few tools to make using the data easier. For example, if you expand the hamburger menu, you can export the chart as a png or svg graphic, or export the backing data to a CSV for your analysis.

S&P 500 Profit Margin Summary Statistics

When you loaded the page, the tool automatically tallied summary statistics for the S&P 500. You'll find:

• Current Profit Margin – The S&P 500 profit margin using trailing twelve-month revenue and earnings estimates for the last date/data pair in the tool
• Average – The average profit margin over all-time on the S&P 500 and pre-market history, using monthly samples
• Median – The median profit margin ratio over the history of the S&P 500
• Minimum – The minimum profit margin ratio found in the dataset
• Maximum – The maximum profit margin ratio found in the dataset
• Last Data Point – The last 'full month' of sales and earnings data, based on when the data for the S&P 500 Return Calculator is updated

What is the Profit Margin?

Profit margin is the earnings of a venture, project, company, or index divided by the total amount of top-line sales. Profit margin represents the efficiency of earnings by showing the dollars in sales required for a dollar in profit. When applied to the S&P 500 (as I've done here), it is the earnings per share over the sales per share in proportion to the S&P 500's market capitalization.

Traditionally, profit margins are generally expressed for quarters or years. In this tool, they are annual profit margins using trailing twelve month point estimates of the earnings and sales in individual quarters. That makes December profit margins the most comparable to full-year company profit margins.

Can the profit margin be used for market valuation?

Yes, with significant caveats. Profit margins are helpful to compare to history as a blunt measure of the power of companies to earn at the expense of other inputs – especially labor or employment costs. It's also possible that sustained high margins could lead to regulation, law, and accounting changes that affect company earnings.

I discussed the advantages and shortcomings of earnings and sales-based metrics in the S&P 500 Price to Sales Ratio and Price to Earnings ratio posts. Earnings are especially vulnerable to market and business cycles, accounting changes, and changes in law and regulations. However, the character of revenue has changed as the S&P 500 has shifted from raw materials and industrials to a higher percentage of technology firms. And, yes, both earnings and revenues can be misstated or inflated – Enron is the go-to case study.

Profit margin measures, in aggregate, suffer from both weaknesses. Since they are based on earnings, profit margins are also subject to market cycles. They are also affected by company structure and industry mix. Some industries, like software, have fewer Costs of Goods Sold (or COGS) and higher profit margins than (for example) industrials and consumer goods companies or even peer technology companies structured as marketplaces.

In short: be very careful with profit margins, especially when comparing over time. But you shouldn't ignore it.

S&P 500 Profit Margin Sources and Methodology

• Index and earnings data is sourced from Professor Robert Shiller.
• Sales data has an extensive source list and methodology, with a few methods and sources blended together. Please read the methodology section in the Price to Sales post for details.
• Recession indicators (the grey shading in the graph) are from the National Bureau of Economic Research's "peak-to-trough" recession measure.

Warnings and Disclaimers

I've done my best with the estimates in this tool and post. However, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data, nor can I state that my methodology is proper. Don't make any investment decisions based on the data in the tool or post and consult your personal investment advisor.

Many data points are proxies and estimates. You should view the data in this tool as a starting point for your own research, create your own methodology, and write your own code to find superior estimates in individual months.

Although never the sole source of sales estimates, some data sets I used as inputs to the sales data set used profit margin estimates. Using the estimates again in this way is something approximating a light circular reference – you might prefer to re-estimate sales without using profit margin datasets.

And as always: data will be revised without warning. Download any data you'd like to archive, since I don't maintain an archive of any data before I revise.

Other Measures of Market Valuation

There are a lot of inputs to profit margin, and it's certainly an interesting value. However, some of these other posts might have a valuation metric more suitable for your purposes:

• S&P 500 Price to Peak Earnings
• S&P 500 Price to Earnings
• S&P 500 Price to Sales Ratio
• Buffett Indicator (the Market Cap to GDP indicator)
• Bogle Stock Market Valuation Model
• Tobin's Q Market Valuation Model
• Shiller PE – the Cyclically Adjusted PE Ratio
• S&P 500 Rule of 20
• S&P 500 Sales Per Share
• S&P 500 Earnings Per Share

On this page you'll find the current S&P 500 price to sales ratio (also known as the price to revenue multiple), summary statistics on the maximum, minimum, average, and median P/S reading, and the history of the S&P 500 P/S ratio.

Additionally, find a S&P 500 PS Ratio visualization and calculator, as well as an estimate of the monthly P/S ratio history. This tool contains full-index revenue estimates from the first quarter of 1946 until today.

S&P 500 Price to Sales History Tool

Historical S&P 500 Price to Revenue Ratio

Below is the monthly history of the S&P 500 Price to Sales ratio. Use the S&P 500 Return Calculator to see the most recent data details.

There's a lot of data here – use the accordion below to expand the section and reveal the P/S data.

Using the S&P 500 Price to Sales Ratio Tool

The S&P 500 PS visualization tool lets you zoom in and out on the PS ratio's history. On a desktop or laptop, hover over the graph to see the monthly PS ratio value.

The lower graph is a brush graph to control zoom. Drag the window or move the handles on the right and left of the smaller window to change the historical view in the top graph.

You'll find a few tools on the top right of the main graph. If you expand the hamburger menu, you can export the graph as a png or svg graphic, or export the backing data to a CSV for your analysis.

S&P 500 PS Ratio Summary Statistics

When you loaded the page, the tool automatically tallied up summary statistics for the S&P 500. You'll find:

• Current PS (TTM) – The price to sales ratio using trailing twelve-month revenue for the last date/data pair in the tool
• Average – The average PS over all-time on the S&P 500 and pre-market history, using monthly samples
• Median – The median PS ratio over the history of the S&P 500
• Minimum – The minimum PS ratio found in the dataset
• Maximum – The maximum PS ratio found in the dataset
• Last Data Point – The last 'full month' of sales data, based on when the data for the S&P 500 Return Calculator is updated

What is the Price/Sales Ratio?

The price-to-sales ratio is the price you pay for a security, divided by that security's revenues over some time. For the S&P 500 PS ratio in this post, the Price to Sales ratio is the weighted average trailing twelve-month sales over all component stocks – in the same proportion as the index's market capitalization.

The traditional P/S ratio is measured over one year of revenues – the trailing twelve months. The price to sales ratio is extremely important for valuing early-stage companies which "don't yet have earnings", but can be useful for all firms. Revenue is the most challenging number to fake and comes with the least adjustments. If you can project the eventual economics of a firm, sales numbers and growth can help you value a company.

On an index, there are other advantages when using sales instead of earnings. Revenues do not fluctuate as much as earnings during recessions, as you'll see in my other S&P 500 valuation tools. This helps in tougher times such as 2008-2009, where S&P 500 firms briefly averaged a loss. There is no equivalent 'negative revenue' measure, so as a ratio with a more stable base, it's useful.

Of course, there are disadvantages, too. Because the mix of companies has changed over time, the character of revenues has changed: technology and marketplace companies are a greater mix today than at the index's genesis. The early S&P 500 consisted of mainly industrial firms, while technology firms (especially software companies) often have higher terminal income margins – that is, they produce more earnings per dollar of sales.

Additionally, any multiple needs to take into consideration the prevailing interest rate. (Here's the ten year constant maturity treasury return, for instance). Higher safe interest rates mean investors should want to be more conservative with their investments, meaning they should insist on higher quality sales numbers, earnings, growth, and other metrics versus than when yield is tougher to find.

Can the Price to Sales ratio be used for market valuation?

Yes and no. Price to Sales is a simple tool that roughly shows how revenues are valued over time, but many disadvantages exist to the measure. Ultimately, investors would like to see earnings of some sort, whether measured by operating earnings, cash flow, or some other figure. (Ultimately, free cash flow – a non-GAAP, or Generally Accepted Accounting Principal measure – allows a company to distribute to investors or reinvest.)

As mentioned above, sales ratios are vulnerable to a changing industry mix. Revenues are often closer to earnings (and cash flow!) for high-margin software businesses versus industrial companies. A similar dynamic plays out across other industries in the S&P 500 – we need to be comparing apples to apples when looking over time.

S&P 500 Price to Sales Ratio Sources and Methodology

S&P Dow Jones Indices owns the S&P 500 index, and they also maintain quarterly sales data back to 2000. 

From the first quarter of 2000 until today, the tool uses a transformed version of the S&P 500 data. As a result, there is no individual month or quarter sales data in the tool, only trailing twelve-month sales data informed by S&P and my other sources.

Other Sources

To estimate revenue before 2000, I used a revenue seasonality estimate and three additional revenue estimate series to extend the sales data back to 1946:

• Nonfinancial Corporate Business; Revenue from Sales of Goods and Services, Excluding Indirect Sales Taxes (FSIs), Transactions from the St. Louis Fed's FRED tool. It's sourced from the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts of the United States Z.1 Report.
  
  The data goes back to 1946, and I used it to estimate sales seasonality by quarter: in short, I used this data to convert the annual series to quarterly series. Where I needed more data through 1945, I extrapolated.
• The Impact of Inflation on ROE, Growth and Stock Prices by Frank K. Reilly.
  
  Reilly lists his sources as S&P 400 and Fortune 500 revenue data, and his set spans 1956-1995 with annual profit margin estimates.
• Ultra-Simple Shiller’s CAPE: How One Year’s Data Can Predict Equity Market Returns Better Than Ten by Thomas Philips and Adam Kobor.
  
  Kobor and Philips list Professor Robert Shiller and Professor Aswath Damadoran as sources. Their revenue estimates use the S&P Data (linked above) plus a "paper copy of the Standard and Poor’s Analysts Handbook" (I can't find a link online to purchase a copy, please get in touch if you can).
  
  Their dataset spans 1946 - 2018 and includes both profit margin and price to sales estimates, and uses S&P Industrials, S&P 400 Industrials, and S&P 425 Industrials revenue data as a proxy in addition to the official S&P 500 sales data.
• Price-To-Sales Ratio Is Less Extreme Ex-Tech by Ploutos on Seeking Alpha. (Ploutos lists Bloomberg as his look-through source in a previous post.)
  
  Their chart goes back to 1990.
• The recession indicators (the grey shading in the S&P PE graph) are from the National Bureau of Economic Research's "peak-to-trough" recession measure. (Note that recession dates may be revised in the future.)

Where needed, monthly S&P earnings and index averages are sourced from Robert Shiller's* compilation of index statistics. Depending on the source type, I either divided the TTM earnings by the profit margin as an input or divided the monthly price by the price to sales ratio.

*Note that Professor Shiller has data from 1871 in his dataset. The S&P 500 in its current form started in 1957, with a smaller index existing since 1926.

Estimating Revenue

When measures were embedded in graphs, I used WebPlotDigitizer to extract measurements from charts.

When multiple data sets overlapped (before 2000), I took a weighted average. I found the two annual series better approximated other sets when overlapping than the Seeking Alpha numbers, so they are weighted higher.

I interpolated (linear) the TTM revenue numbers in the quarterly estimates to convert quarterly data to monthly data.

S&P 500 Price to Sales Ratio Warnings and Disclaimers

Although I am confident that the data in this tool approximates the revenue history of the S&P 500 over time, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. I made tough judgment calls constructing the historical set, and you should not necessarily trust my methodology. Do not make individual investment decisions based on the results of this tool; consult with your personal investment advisor.

The datasets were spliced together from proxies, and in some cases, they may not well estimate the actual S&P 500 results. Therefore, if you want to use S&P 500 revenue data in your investment process, you should construct your own revenue index using a suitable methodology.

The index price is the monthly average closing price. Revenues are the estimated trailing twelve-month revenues. Revenue numbers do not map to exact sales in any particular month. Where there is no sales data in the front month, the tool uses the "last seen sales" (so sales may be duplicated from the previous quarter or two for the most recent data.).

One last warning: data will be revised without warning. The ratio may move materially when revenue data is backfilled after companies report sales.

Other Measures of Market Valuation

As you can see, valuing an index based on sales is a simple tool, but it can show the general mood of investors looking at the S&P 500. 

Here on DQYDJ, I've built several other tools which might give a better indication of a market's value; check them out:

• S&P 500 Price to Peak Earnings
• S&P 500 Price to Earnings
• S&P 500 Profit Margin
• Buffett Indicator (the Market Cap to GDP indicator)
• Bogle Stock Market Valuation Model
• Tobin's Q Market Valuation Model
• Shiller PE – the Cyclically Adjusted PE Ratio
• S&P 500 Rule of 20
• S&P 500 Sales Per Share
• S&P 500 Sales Growth

Below is a Nikkei Return calculator with dividend reinvestment, which can compare estimated investment returns. The return calculator can factor in the Japanese CPI index to adjust returns for inflation. 

Return estimates are quoted in yen by default, or the tool allows adjustment for the yen/dollar exchange rate as well as the United States CPI index to check returns from an American investor's perspective.

This Nikkei return calculator has monthly resolution and our data starts in January of 1950.

Editor: Through 2/1/2023 Close

The Nikkei-225 Dividends Reinvested Price Calculator (With Inflation Adjustment and Dollar Exchange Rate)

For a complete list of all our calculators, for investing and otherwise, go to this page.  Most popularly, we have a S&P 500 Return Calculator as well as a Dow Jones Industrial Average return calculator... both with reinvested dividends. There is also a stock reinvestment calculator for the US and Canada.

The Nikkei 225 is a price weighted index – much like the American Dow Jones Industrial Average – though it has 225 issues to the DJIA's 30. The index is owned by the Nikkei newspaper, formally The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (日本経済新聞). It has been calculated daily since late 1950, and when created it was back-calculated to mid-1949.

Although this calculator leaves out any estimates of taxes and fees and other investment expenses, it includes estimated monthly dividend payments, as well as estimates for the yen/dollar exchange rate and inflation indices (CPI) for both Japan and the United States. This allows you to estimate the index's real return for a domestic or international investor (or both).  There are two sections, toggled by the radio buttons for 'Show Returns in Yen' or 'Show Returns in Dollars':

Nikkei Return Calculator: Show Returns in Yen

• Total Nikkei-225 Return - The total price return of the Nikkei. This would be 0 if the price was 100 at the start and end date.
• Annualized Nikkei-225 Return - The annualized price return of the Nikkei-225, if the above number was equally spread out over years.
• Total Nikkei-225 Return (Dividends Reinvested) - Assuming dividends were reinvested, an estimate of the total percentage return.
• Annualized Nikkei-225 Return (Dividends Reinvested) - Annualized return (geometric mean) of the above total Nikkei-225 return estimate.
• Inflation Adjusted (Japan CPI)? - A reminder whether the currently displayed numbers are factoring in Japan's CPI index for inflation.

Nikkei Return Calculator: Show Returns in Dollars

• Total Nikkei-225 Return (Dollars) - The total price return of the Nikkei once converted to dollars.
• Annualized Nikkei-225 Return (Dollars) - The annualized price return of the Nikkei-225 once converted to dollars.
• Total Nikkei-225 Return (Dividends Reinvested, Dollars) - Estimated total Nikkei-225 return with dividends reinvested, once converted to dollars.
• Annualized Nikkei-225 Return (Dividends Reinvested, Dollars) - Geometric average return of the annualized number calculated above.
• Inflation Adjusted (Japan CPI)? - A reminder whether the currently displayed numbers are factoring in the United State's CPI index for inflation.

Caveats and Methodological Choices for the Nikkei Return Calculator

Please note: This calculator is meant solely for research and scholarship purposes. It gives no exact daily values. The tool attempts to estimate the return of average investors who bought during the starting month then sold during the ending month. It should give a reasonable guess, however, to investor performance ignoring fees, taxes, timing, and other costs. Please verify all results on your own; we accept no responsibility for investment decisions made due to this tool.

As with all of our dividend reinvestment calculators, we've put a lot of work into the initial research for this Nikkei return calculator and weighed the tradeoffs and pros and cons of many different inputs. Most importantly: this calculator has a monthly resolution, and any internal numbers in the tool do not map into an individual date.

That is: questions such as 'which day's closing price was January 1952?' don't have an answer.

Internal to the tool are monthly averages of closing prices. The best way to do an inaccurate (but comparable) 'yearly' estimate of return is to look at, say, a "December to December" or "January to January" closing period.  Do not ask me how many days that is... it's the average closing price. Again: there are no 'daily' prices, with the sole exception of the front month/most recent month data.

We're making lots of assumptions for this tool, out of necessity. It can't entertain "well, what if I only bought on the third Monday?" type theoretical questions. Please go to Nikkei directly for that data, and I will make a link from DQYDJ to your calculator after you build it.

Sources for the Nikkei Return Calculator

Nikkei-225 Index

• Nikkei Index Main Page
• FRED's Nikkei-225 Archives (Use monthly/average)

Note that I use the monthly close prices of the total return index and Nikkei-225. The difference in returns I use to impute a dividend for the month. (Slight negative values I round to zero).

Nikkei-225 Dividends

For dividends before 2000, there are no Nikkei Total Return calculations. These dividends were estimated from a combination of Nikkei datasets and TOPIX data. Here is a total list of sources, including both data and the software used:

• Mason, A.J., “OpenSolver – An Open Source Add-in to Solve Linear and Integer Progammes in Excel”, Operations Research Proceedings 2011, eds. Klatte, Diethard, Lüthi, Hans-Jakob, Schmedders, Karl, Springer Berlin Heidelberg
  pp 401-406, 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29210-1_64, http://opensolver.org
• Kazuo Udea, University of Tokyo
• Mike Kennedy, Angel Palerm, Charles Pigott and Flavia Terribile for the OECD
• Legg Mason Newsletter
• Michael D. Bordo, Rutgers University
• Statistics Japan
• Nikkei Total Return Factsheet
• Nikkei Total Return Index
• Notes:
  • Again, note that some points use dividend estimates on the Japanese TOPIX Index owned by the Japan Exchange Group. Others use datasets labeled as 'Japanese Dividends'. I believe they are reasonably close to what we want, but are definitely not exact. If this bothers you, calculate returns on your own.
    
  • When we have overlapping dividend estimates for various months, we used the harmonic mean to estimate the true TTM dividend. To convert TTM dividends to estimated monthly payouts, we used a non-linear programmer in OpenSolver (software listed above) and minimized the sum of errors from the implied TTM.

Inflation & Exchange Rates

• Statistics Bureau Japan
• US CPI is from Robert Shiller's Spreadsheet
• FRED
• Notes:
  • The exchange rate was 360 yen/dollar through 1971.
  • Where data isn't available in the most recent months, we extrapolate by 'dragging (cell expansion)' the previous 2 months forward using Google Docs.
  • The front month data may be a repeat of the last value at the time I update the tool.

For pre-1970 inflation, I used a proxy to back populate the values.

1. There is no-country-wide data (that I could find), so I used the Ku-area of Tokyo inflation index, table 17, from the Statistics Bureau of Japan. The widest index available for those dates is "All items, less imputed rent"
2. Each annual inflation reading I mapped to January of that year, and took data from 1950-1990.
3. I used the "Table 1-2 Subgroup Index for Ku-area of Tokyo" "All items, less imputed rent" to get January monthly data from 1970-1990
4. I found the average divisor between the overlapping indices: 18.92481077
5. I used that divisor to run the index back to January 1950, then interpolated to find the other months
6. From January 1970 forward I used the total country data in the tool itself

This method gives us a reasonable estimate of inflation in Japan from 1950 until the present.

Implications

If you've been a long time reader (thank you), we don't need to explain why dividends are important - they make a huge difference over longer time periods such as a 'typical' 40 year career.

Please let us know if you see any bugs or issues in the calculator - we'll note any issues we do find, but we expect that it's in reasonable shape for today.

The NASDAQ returned -33.47% in 2022. Using a better calculation, which includes dividend reinvestment, the NASDAQ returned -32.54%.

The 2022 NASDAQ Return: Even in Tech You Should Reinvest

The above returns assumed you bought the NASDAQ index at the open on January 3rd, 2022 and sold at close on December 30, 2022.

Prefer a "full year" of history? If you bought the closing price on December 31, 2021 and sold the closing price on December 30, 2022, your returns were -33.10% and -32.54%, respectively.

2022 NASDAQ Index Price Return

Price Based On	2022 Begin	Dec 30 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	15732.50	10466.48	-33.47%
Dec 31 Close	15644.97	10466.48	-33.10%

NASDAQ Reinvested Dividend Return in 2022

Price Based On	2022 Begin	Dec 30 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	18764.50	12588.95	-32.91%
Dec 31 Close	18660.07	12588.95	-32.54%

As I say every year, your timing doesn't matter that much. Either way, if you invested in a NASDAQ fund (or a tech fund), you likely had a terrible 2022. But overall: as the old joke goes, time in the market beats timing the market.

And although it doesn't matter as much as for other indices (tech doesn't pay as many dividends!), dividends do matter on the NASDAQ.

Source on the 2022 NASDAQ Return Calculations

The NASDAQ Index is owned and computed by NASDAQ Indexes. There you'll find the index level and total return data. Find NASDAQ total return data here or on investing.com.

See NASDAQ returns in other years:

• 2023 NASDAQ Return
• 2021 NASDAQ Return
• 2020 NASDAQ Return
• 2019 NASDAQ Return
• 2018 NASDAQ Return
• 2017 NASDAQ Return
• 2016 NASDAQ Return
• 2015 NASDAQ Return
• 2014 NASDAQ Return

The Dow Jones Industrial Average returned -8.74% in 2022. Using a better calculation including dividend reinvestment, the Dow Jones returned -6.86%.

2022 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return: Reinvest Your Dividends

I ran the above calculation for an index purchase at open on January 3rd, 2022 and sold at close on December 30, 2022. This is the result if you did all of your investing in the maximum possible span inside 2022. It's also, like most estimates, an (nearly?) impossible benchmark to hit exactly.

Alternatively, you might use a one-year holding proxy, where you instead bought the closing index price on December 31, 2020. In that case, you would have seen around -8.78% and (again) -6.86% returns. S&P Dow Jones did not report a different closing price for the Total Return flavor of the index on December 31, 2021 versus the open on January 3, 2022.

Dow Jones 2022 Index Returns

Price Based On	2022 Begin	Dec 30 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	36321.59	33147.25	-8.74%
Dec 31 Close	36338.30	33147.25	-8.78%

Dow Jones 2022 Total Return Index Returns

Price Based On	2022 Begin	Dec 30 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	85602.90	79728.48	-6.86%
Dec 31 Close	85602.90	79728.48	-6.86%

While the exact date doesn't really matter, dividends do matter. Versus other indices, the Dow Jones tends to include mature companies which pay more of their earnings out in dividends. If you held a fund and reinvested dividends for the entire year, you would have performed better than the price index would suggest.

Investing in the Dow Jones Price-Weighted Stock Index

Most stock indices nowadays are market capitalization weighted, (see the 2022 S&P 500 Return). The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index. Price-weighted indices derive their index value by taking the trading price of the underlying company shares times some "individual stock factor".

Price weighting is not a great indexing method. However, honestly, it tracks other large cap indexes "fairly" well. For the most part, indices weighted by market capitalization is the superior methodology to track a basket of stocks.

And this year, the Dow Jones beat the S&P 500 and NASDAQ returns (both market capitalization weighted indices). However, a lot of that is the factor effect - both the S&P 500, and to an even greater degree, the NASDAQ, are technology-heavy. 2022 was not a good year for technology!

Source on the 2022 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return Calculations

Data is credit Dow Jones Indices, owned by S&P Dow Jones Indices. They run both the Dow Jones Total Return and Price Indices.

Historically, here on DQYDJ we have gone pretty far with our content – both in investing, and with some Dow Jones specific posts and tools:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend Reinvestment Calculator
  Estimate Dow Jones performance and returns back to 1896
• Dow Jones Industrial Average Historical Return Calculator
  Summary statistics on the Dow Jones over periods you choose.

See DJIA returns in other years:

• 2023 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2021 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2020 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2019 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2018 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2017 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2016 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2015 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return
• 2014 Dow Jones Industrial Average Return

The S&P 500 Price index returned -19.64% in 2022. Using a better calculation which includes dividend reinvestment, the S&P 500 returned -18.32%.

Maximizing 2022 S&P 500 Return: Buy It, Hold It, and Reinvest It

The numbers I just quoted you assume you did all your investing in a single year. Specifically, I assumed you bought the market open on January 3, 2022, and sold at the exact close on December 30, 2022. (Which is nearly impossible to do).

If you alternatively meant a "one-year span", those two returns, respectively, are -19.44% and -18.11%. This assumes, instead, that you bought the December 31, 2021 close.

S&P 500 Index Price Calculation

Price Based On	2022 Begin	Dec 30 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	4778.14	3839.50	-19.64%
Dec 31 Close	4766.18	3839.50	-19.44%

S&P 500 Total Return Price Calculation

Price Based On	2022 Begin	Dec 30 Close	Return
Jan 3 Open	10011.81	8178.02	-18.32%
Dec 31 Close	9986.70	8178.02	-18.11%

Dividends Matter

The exact date you pick doesn't much matter... as long as you keep your timeframes consistent. (However, you do need to mind the dividends!)

It was a very weak year for equity returns in the United States. Coming off the stimulative environment (or excesses, as some would argue...) of the early COVID Pandemic, stocks fell as Federal reserves across the world increased rates and sold assets (or allowed assets to roll off their balance sheets). However, when you consider dividend reinvestment, your returns "didn't look as bad."

Yes, they were still weak. But including dividends is an important consideration.

Source on the 2022 S&P 500 Return Calculations

Please visit S&P Dow Jones Indices, who owns the S&P 500 Index and its total return index. They added the total return index in 1987. Before then, you have to construct your own index proxy to see how the index has fared.

We have a collection of investing calculators and tools – most including provisions for dividend, coupon, or interest reinvestment. Here are some which highlight the S&P 500:

• S&P 500 Dividend Reinvestment Calculator
  Dividend reinvestment calculations on the S&P 500 back as far as we can cover them – 1871, as of now
• S&P 500 Periodic Reinvestment and Dividend Calculator
  A tool which additionally tries to estimate fees and taxes. Allows periodic scheduled additions to investments.
• S&P 500 Historical Return Calculator
  See the average, median, best, and worst returns on the S&P 500 over a time period.

The 2022 S&P 500 Return

You can quickly find the S&P 500 and Total Return index at Yahoo!. Here's a graph showing the delta in 2022:

Other years:

• 2023 S&P 500 Return
• 2021 S&P 500 Return
• 2020 S&P 500 Return
• 2019 S&P 500 Return
• 2018 S&P 500 Return
• 2017 S&P 500 Return
• 2016 S&P 500 Return
• 2015 S&P 500 Return
• 2014 S&P 500 Return
• 2013 S&P 500 Return
• 2012 S&P 500 Return