How to Use GOOGLEFINANCE Function in Google Sheets

The GOOGLEFINANCE function in Google Sheets is a straightforward tool for accessing real-time financial data.

It allows you to:

• Track market trends and stock updates
• Fetch real-time and historical data from stock exchanges
• Monitor investment portfolios
• Convert currencies

Ideal for investors and financial analysts, GOOGLEFINANCE transforms your spreadsheets into a powerful financial analysis tool.

The GOOGLEFINANCE Function Syntax

The GOOGLEFINANCE function in Google Sheets follows a specific syntax to fetch financial data.

Its syntax is as follows: GOOGLEFINANCE(ticker, [attribute], [start_date], [end_date], [interval]).

Each component serves a distinct purpose:

• ticker: The unique symbol identifying the stock or currency pair. Example: "AAPL" for Apple.
• [attribute]: Optional. Specifies the type of data to return, like "price", "volume", etc. If omitted, the default is "price". You can view more attributes here.
• [start_date]: Optional. The start date for historical data retrieval.
• [end_date]: Optional. The end date for historical data. If omitted, only the data for the start date is returned.
• [interval]: Optional. Sets the frequency of the data (e.g., "DAILY", "WEEKLY"). Only applicable for historical data.

Popular Use Cases

The GOOGLEFINANCE function in Google Sheets is not only powerful but also versatile, catering to a range of financial data analysis needs. Here are a few popular uses cases.

Obtain Current Stock Data

Using GOOGLEFINANCE, you can easily access real-time data for a specific stock. For example, =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL") provides the current price of Apple stock. But the functionality of GOOGLEFINANCE goes beyond just retrieving the current price. By utilizing the attribute parameter, you can access a broader range of current stock data.

For instance, to find the current day’s trading volume for Apple, you would use the formula =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL", "volume"). This modification fetches the number of shares traded during the current day. Similarly, you can explore other attributes such as:

• "high": To get the highest trading price of the day, use =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL", "high").
• "low": To find the day's lowest price, the formula is =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL", "low").
• "marketcap": For market capitalization data, use =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL", "marketcap").

Each attribute gives you specific insights into the stock's performance and helps you make more informed decisions based on real-time data. This versatility makes GOOGLEFINANCE an invaluable tool for anyone interested in keeping a close watch on the stock market through Google Sheets.

Obtain Historical Stock Data

This function also allows you to retrieve historical data for a specific period. For instance, =GOOGLEFINANCE("AAPL", "close", "2023-01-01", "2023-12-31", "DAILY") will fetch the closing prices of Apple stock for each day of 2023. The function only supports daily and weekly intervals for historical data retrieval.

Convert Currency

GOOGLEFINANCE is adept at handling real-time currency conversions. Typing =GOOGLEFINANCE("CURRENCY:AUDUSD") will give you the current exchange rate from Australian Dollar to US Dollar.

Obtain Historical Currency Exchange Data

Just like with stocks, you can also get historical exchange rate data.

To obtain the historical exchange rates between two currencies for a specific number of days using the GOOGLEFINANCE function in Google Sheets, you can use the following syntax:

=GOOGLEFINANCE("CURRENCY:FROMCURRENCYTOCURRENCY", "price", TODAY()-N, TODAY(), "DAILY")

Replace "FROMCURRENCY" with the 3-letter code of the original currency, "TOCURRENCY" with the 3-letter code of the target currency, and "N" with the number of days for which you want to retrieve the exchange rates.

For example, to get the AUD to USD exchange rates for the last 10 days, you can use the following formula:

=GOOGLEFINANCE("CURRENCY:AUDUSD", "price", TODAY()-10, TODAY(), "DAILY")

This formula will fetch the exchange rates between the specified currencies for the last 10 days.

Conclusion

The GOOGLEFINANCE function in Google Sheets is a versatile tool for accessing a wide range of financial data. It's invaluable for tracking stock prices, analyzing historical data, converting currencies, and more.