What the Futures Profit Calculator does
A futures profit calculator converts a price move into dollars. You choose a contract, say whether you are long or short, enter your entry and exit prices and the number of contracts, and it shows the result in USD, points and ticks, as a profit or loss per contract and for the whole position. Add your commission, exchange and clearing fees and any slippage estimate, and it also shows the net result you would keep.
Two supporting tabs sit next to the basic calculation. Trade Plan takes a stop-loss and take-profit price and reports the dollar risk, the potential reward and the risk-to-reward ratio. Position Size starts from your account balance and risk limit and works out how many contracts fit. Each tab answers a different question, so keep them apart: the first calculates the result for a number of contracts you have already chosen, while the last chooses the number of contracts for you.
The calculator works with U.S. exchange-traded futures and reports results in U.S. dollars. Presets fill in the tick size and tick value for ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, CL, GC and MGC, and a Custom option lets you enter the specifications for any other contract.
Futures profit and loss formulas
Every futures profit calculation uses the same idea: the price move, converted to dollars with the contract's specifications, times the number of contracts. Long and short positions differ only in which direction counts as a gain.
- Long gross P&L = (exit price − entry price) × point value × number of contracts
- Short gross P&L = (entry price − exit price) × point value × number of contracts
- Tick-based gross P&L = direction-adjusted ticks moved × tick value × number of contracts
The tick-based and point-based formulas always agree, because tick value equals tick size times point value. A long position gains when price rises and a short position gains when price falls, so the same price move is a gain for one side and an equal loss for the other.
Contract quantity scales both gains and losses in a straight line. Three contracts earn three times the profit of one on the same move, and they lose three times as much when the trade goes wrong.
Worked example. You buy 2 ES contracts at 5,000.00 and sell them at 5,012.50. The move is 12.50 points, which is 50 ticks at 0.25 per tick. Per contract that is 12.50 × $50 = $625 (or 50 × $12.50, the same figure), so the gross profit on two contracts is $1,250. Enter the same numbers in the calculator to check it. Had you sold short at 5,000.00 and bought back at 5,012.50, the same move would be a $1,250 loss.
Futures contract specifications
The table below lists every contract with a preset in the calculator. Each contract name links to its official CME Group specification page. Contract specifications can change, so confirm the current figures on the exchange page before you trade. The figures in this table were checked against CME Group's published specifications on 17 October 2026.
| Contract | Symbol | Exchange | Contract size / multiplier | Quoted price unit | Tick size | Tick value | Point value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-mini S&P 500 | ES | CME | $50 × S&P 500 Index | Index points | 0.25 pt | $12.50 | $50 |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 | MES | CME | $5 × S&P 500 Index | Index points | 0.25 pt | $1.25 | $5 |
| E-mini Nasdaq-100 | NQ | CME | $20 × Nasdaq-100 Index | Index points | 0.25 pt | $5.00 | $20 |
| Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 | MNQ | CME | $2 × Nasdaq-100 Index | Index points | 0.25 pt | $0.50 | $2 |
| WTI Crude Oil | CL | NYMEX | 1,000 barrels | US$ per barrel | $0.01 | $10.00 | $1,000 |
| Gold | GC | COMEX | 100 troy ounces | US$ per troy oz | $0.10 | $10.00 | $100 |
| Micro Gold | MGC | COMEX | 10 troy ounces | US$ per troy oz | $0.10 | $1.00 | $10 |
CME Group operates several exchanges, including CME, NYMEX and COMEX, and the contracts above trade on three of them. Always use the specifications of the exact contract you trade: a different product, or a different size of the same product, has a different point value, so one universal conversion would give wrong answers.
Tick size, tick value and point value
Three figures describe how a contract's price becomes money:
- Tick size is the minimum price fluctuation, the smallest move the contract is permitted to make.
- Tick value is the dollar value of one tick per contract.
- Point value, also called the contract multiplier, is the dollar value of a full 1.00 price move per contract.
To turn a price difference into profit, first convert it to ticks (price difference ÷ tick size), then to dollars (ticks × tick value). For ES, a 5.00-point move is 5.00 ÷ 0.25 = 20 ticks, and 20 × $12.50 = $250. The same dollars come straight from points: 5 × $50 = $250. The calculator derives point value from the tick size and tick value you select or enter, so the three numbers can never contradict each other.
Gross profit vs net profit
Gross P&L is the price move converted to dollars. Net P&L is what remains after trading costs: net P&L = gross P&L − total applicable trading costs. A few details decide whether your figure is right.
- Per side. The commission and fee fields are per contract, per side. The calculator charges them on the entry and again on the exit. If your broker quotes a round-trip price, enter half of it.
- Which fees. Enter your commission and the exchange, clearing and regulatory fees from your broker's schedule. They differ by broker and by contract, so there is no default.
- Slippage. Slippage is the gap between the price you expected and the price you got. If your entry and exit prices are the actual fills, slippage is already inside them, so leave the slippage field at 0. Enter a slippage estimate only when you are planning with expected prices, and the calculator deducts it once per side.
Worked example, continued. Say the ES trade above carried $1.50 commission and $1.00 in exchange and clearing fees per contract per side. Round-trip costs are $2.50 × 2 sides × 2 contracts = $10, so net P&L is $1,250 − $10 = $1,240. On small moves costs matter far more: a one-tick ES gain is $12.50 gross, and $5 of round-trip costs takes 40% of it.
E-mini vs Micro E-mini contracts
The Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) and Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 (MNQ) contracts are one-tenth the size of their E-mini counterparts, ES and NQ. They tick by the same 0.25 points, but each point is worth one-tenth as much, so they carry one-tenth of the dollar exposure. The table applies the same price move to each contract, one contract and a long position.
| Contract | Point value | Price move | Ticks | Gross profit (1 contract, long) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES | $50 | 12.50 pts | 50 | $625.00 |
| MES | $5 | 12.50 pts | 50 | $62.50 |
| NQ | $20 | 50.00 pts | 200 | $1,000.00 |
| MNQ | $2 | 50.00 pts | 200 | $100.00 |
Ten MES contracts match the exposure of one ES contract, and ten MNQ match one NQ. Micros let you size a position more finely, which matters when a stop-based risk limit is small. Each contract still pays its own commission and fees, so ten micros usually cost more in fees than one E-mini. Do not assume that every product labelled “micro” is a tenth of its parent: Micro Gold (MGC) happens to be 10 troy ounces against 100 for gold, but each product has its own sizing rules, so check its specification.
Stop-loss, take-profit and risk-to-reward
The Trade Plan tab works from a planned stop-loss price and take-profit price, separate from the entry-to-exit calculation. It reports:
- Stop distance and target distance, in points and ticks.
- Dollar risk, the loss if the stop is hit: stop distance × point value × contracts, plus round-trip costs.
- Potential reward, the gain if the target is hit, less round-trip costs.
- Risk-to-reward ratio = potential reward per contract ÷ risk per contract.
For a long ES trade entered at 5,000.00 with a stop at 4,990.00 and a target at 5,030.00, the stop is 10 points (40 ticks), or $500 per contract, and the target is 30 points, or $1,500 per contract. The ratio is 1 : 3. The calculator also shows the break-even win rate for those exact distances, which is the share of trades that must win to break even. At 1 : 3 that is 25%. A good ratio does not make a trade a good idea; it only describes the payoff structure you planned.
Risk-based position sizing
Calculating P&L for a number of contracts you picked is different from asking how many contracts you should trade. The Position Size tab does the second. It needs your account balance, a risk budget (a percentage of the account, or a fixed dollar amount), and your entry and stop-loss prices. The steps are:
- Dollar risk budget = account balance × risk percentage (or the dollar amount you enter).
- Risk per contract = stop distance in points × point value, plus round-trip costs.
- Contracts = risk budget ÷ risk per contract, rounded down.
Rounding down keeps planned risk inside your budget. A $25,000 account risking 1% has a $250 budget. With entry at 5,000.00 and a stop at 4,990.00, each MES contract risks 10 × $5 = $50, so the answer is 5 contracts. One ES contract would risk $500, more than the whole budget, so the calculator reports 0 contracts and suggests a micro contract, a tighter stop or a larger budget. Sizing is a risk control, not a forecast.
Margin, notional value and leverage
These ideas are separate from the profit formula, and mixing them up is a common mistake.
- Margin requirement is the deposit, a performance bond, your broker and the exchange require to hold a position. It is not a loan and not the price of the contract. It varies by product and over time, and brokers can require more than the exchange minimum.
- Notional value is the full exposure you control: price × point value × contracts. One ES contract at 5,000 has a notional value of $250,000, while one MES contract at the same level is $25,000.
- Leverage compares the two: notional value ÷ margin. Because exposure is far larger than the deposit, a small price move produces a large gain or loss relative to the margin posted.
- Trade risk is the dollar loss at your stop, and it can exceed the margin deposit.
Margin is not an additional multiplier on calculated P&L. The point value already captures the leverage. If you enter a margin figure on the Profit & Loss tab, the calculator reports return on margin (net P&L ÷ the margin you entered) and notional-to-margin leverage. Those use your figure only. It is not a broker quote, and the calculator does not store or look up margin requirements.
Scope, assumptions and limitations
The calculator's primary scope is U.S. exchange-traded futures, with results in U.S. dollars. It supports the presets in the table above and any other contract whose tick size and tick value you enter yourself. Please keep these points in mind:
- Results are hypothetical. They apply the specifications to the prices you type; they are not based on live market data or an account statement. Enter actual fill prices to analyze a completed trade.
- Only the costs you enter are included, and they are assumed equal on both sides. Taxes, financing, data fees and other charges are excluded.
- A slippage estimate is an assumption. It changes the estimate, not what the market actually delivers, and estimated outcomes do not guarantee execution results.
- Each calculation covers one contract and one entry and exit. It does not model scaling in or out, rolling between contract months, or daily mark-to-market settlement.
- Crypto perpetual futures leverage and liquidation calculations use a different model and are not covered here.
Risk disclosure. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. You can lose more than your initial margin deposit. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy or sell, and the calculator is a planning and checking tool, not trading advice. Confirm every figure with your broker before you trade.