Yes. If the final value is lower than what you put in, the profit is negative and so is the ROI — an investment that falls from $1,000 to $800 has an ROI of −20%. Losing everything gives −100%.

Why does a period under one year give a higher annualized figure?

Because annualizing assumes the same growth rate continues for a full year. A 10% gain in six months compounds to about 21% over twelve months — which is mathematically correct but may not be realistic, so treat short-period annualized figures with caution.

ROI Calculator

Find the profit or loss on an investment, its total return as a percentage, and — if you know how long you held it — the equivalent yearly growth rate.

Initial investment

Final value

Investment period in years (optional)

Needed for the annualized return.

Simple ROI = (final value − initial investment) ÷ initial investment. Annualized ROI is the compound annual growth rate: (final ÷ initial)^(1 ÷ years) − 1. Include any extra money you added and costs you paid in the figures you enter — this tool doesn't know about fees, taxes, dividends or inflation. Results are estimates, not financial advice.

$4,500.00

Profit

45%

Simple ROI (total return)

13.19%

Annualized ROI (per year)

A 45% total return over 3 years is equivalent to growing 13.19% per year, compounded.

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How to use roi calculator

1Enter the amount you originally invested.
2Enter what the investment is worth now (or what you sold it for).
3Optionally add how many years you held it to see the annualized return.
4Compare the simple ROI with the annualized figure.

About this tool

Simple ROI answers "how much did I make in total?": (final value − initial investment) ÷ initial investment × 100. A $10,000 investment now worth $14,500 has a 45% return — but that number says nothing about whether it took one year or ten.

Annualized ROI fixes that by converting the total into a compound yearly rate, also called the compound annual growth rate (CAGR): (final ÷ initial)^(1 ÷ years) − 1. The same 45% over three years works out to about 13.2% a year, which is the figure to compare against savings rates or other investments held for different lengths of time.

Keep the inputs honest: if you added more money along the way, received dividends, or paid fees, commissions or tax, the simple start-and-end figures won't tell the whole story. This calculator doesn't assume any fees, taxes or inflation, and its results are estimates for comparison, not financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

ROI is the total percentage gain or loss over the whole holding period. Annualized ROI spreads that over the number of years as a compound yearly rate, so a 50% gain over 5 years (about 8.4% a year) can be compared fairly with a 20% gain over 1 year.

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