Futures Contract Profit Calculator
Calculate profit or loss on futures contracts from entry price, exit price, contract size, and quantity.
Returns gross P&L, commission, and percentage return.
Futures contracts allow traders to buy or sell a standardized quantity of an asset at a predetermined price on a future date. Profit and loss depends on contract size, the price movement in ticks, and the dollar value of each tick. Getting any of the three wrong is how people discover the size of a position after it has moved against them.
Formula: Profit/Loss = (Exit Price − Entry Price) × Contract Size × Number of Contracts
For short (sell) positions: reverse the sign. Short P&L = (Entry Price − Exit Price) × Contract Size × Number of Contracts
Tick value approach: P&L = Ticks Moved × Tick Value × Number of Contracts
What each variable means:
- Entry Price: the price at which you opened the position.
- Exit Price: the price at which you closed it.
- Contract Size: the standardized quantity per contract (varies by market).
- Tick: the minimum price movement allowed in that market.
- Tick Value: the dollar amount that one tick represents per contract.
Worked example, E-mini S&P 500 (ES): Contract size: $50 × index value Tick: 0.25 index points | Tick value: $12.50 per contract
Long entry: 5,200.00 | Exit: 5,215.00 | 1 contract Price move: 15.00 points = 60 ticks P&L = 60 × $12.50 × 1 = $750 profit
Enter 5200, 5215, a contract size of 50 and 1 contract above and you get exactly that. Add a round-turn commission of $4.50, which is typical for a retail futures broker, and the net becomes $745.50. On a trade this size the commission is under 1% of the profit and easy to ignore. On a scalp of two or three ticks it is most of it, which is why the field is there.
Common futures contract specs:
| Market | Ticker | Contract Size | Tick Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-mini S&P 500 | ES | $50 × index | $12.50 |
| Crude Oil | CL | 1,000 barrels | $10.00 |
| Gold | GC | 100 troy oz | $10.00 |
| Treasury Bonds | ZB | $100,000 face | $31.25 |
| Euro FX | 6E | €125,000 | $12.50 |
Important: futures are leveraged instruments. A $12,500 margin deposit controls a $260,000 ES contract, which is roughly 21 to 1. Enter your margin above and the calculator reports the return on the money you actually put up, alongside the leverage that produced it. That second number is the one worth staring at: the same 15-point move that made $750 on one contract loses $750 just as fast, and a 5% move against a 21-to-1 position is more than the account.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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