Return on Investment (ROI): How to Calculate It and What It Means (2024)

What Is Return on Investment (ROI)?

Return on investment (ROI) is aperformance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. ROI tries to directly measure the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost.

To calculate ROI, the benefit (or return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment. The result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.

Key Takeaways

Return on Investment (ROI) is a popular profitability metric used to evaluate how well an investment has performed.
ROI is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by dividing an investment's net profit (or loss) by its initial cost or outlay.
ROI can be used to make apples-to-apples comparisons and rank investments in different projects or assets.
ROI does not take into account the holding period or passage of time, and so it can miss opportunity costs of investing elsewhere.
Whether or not something delivers a good ROI should be compared relative to other available opportunities.

Return on Investment (ROI): How to Calculate It and What It Means (1)

How to Calculate Return on Investment (ROI)

The return on investment (ROI) formula is as follows:

$\begin{aligned} &\text{ROI} = \dfrac{\text{Current Value of Investment}-\text{Cost of Investment}}{\text{Cost of Investment}}\\ \end{aligned}$ ROI=CostofInvestmentCurrentValueofInvestment−CostofInvestment

"Current Value of Investment” refers to the proceeds obtained from the sale of the investment of interest. Because ROI is measured as a percentage, it can be easily compared with returns from other investments, allowing one to measure a variety of types of investments against one another.

Why Is ROI a Useful Measurement?

ROI is a popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity. Essentially, ROI can be used as a rudimentary gauge of an investment’s profitability. This could be the ROI on a stock investment, the ROI a company expects on expanding a factory, or the ROI generated in a real estate transaction.

What Are the Limitations of ROI?

Examples like Jo's (above) reveal some limitations of using ROI, particularly when comparing investments. While the ROI of Jo's second investment was twice that of the first investment, the time between Jo’s purchase and the sale was one year for the first investment but three years for the second.

Jo could adjust the ROI of the multi-year investment accordingly. Since the total ROI was 40%, to obtain the average annual ROI, Jo could divide 40% by 3 to yield 13.33% annualized. With this adjustment, it appears that although Jo’s second investment earned more profit, the first investment was actually the more efficient choice.

ROI can be used in conjunction with the rate of return (RoR), which takes into account a project’s time frame. One may also use net present value (NPV), which accounts for differences in the value of money over time due to inflation. The application of NPV when calculating the RoR is often called the real rate of return.

What Are the Wider Applications of ROI?

Recently, certain investors and businesses have taken an interest in the development of new forms of ROIs, called social return on investment (SROI). SROI was initially developed in the late 1990s and takes into account broader impacts of projects using extra-financial value (i.e., social and environmental metrics not currently reflected in conventional financial accounts).

SROI helps understand the value proposition of certain environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria used in socially responsible investing (SRI) practices. For instance, a company may decide to recycle water in its factories and replace its lighting with all LED bulbs. These undertakings have an immediate cost that may negatively impact traditional ROI—however, the net benefit to society and the environment could lead to a positive SROI.

There are several other new variations of ROIs that have been developed for particular purposes. Social media statistics ROI pinpoints the effectiveness of social media campaigns—for example how many clicks or likes are generated for a unit of effort. Similarly, marketing statistics ROI tries to identify the return attributable to advertising or marketing campaigns.

So-called learning ROI relates to the amount of information learned and retained as a return on education or skills training. As the world progresses and the economy changes, several other niche forms of ROI are sure to be developed in the future.

What Is ROI in Simple Terms?

Basically, return on investment (ROI) tells you how much money you've made (or lost) on an investment or project after accounting for its cost.

How Do You Calculate Return on Investment (ROI)?

Return on investment (ROI) is calculated by dividing the profit earned on an investment by the cost of that investment. For instance, an investment with a profit of $100 and a cost of $100 would have an ROI of 1, or 100% when expressed as a percentage. Although ROI is a quick and easy way to estimate the success of an investment, it has some serious limitations. ROI fails to reflect the time value of money, for instance, and it can be difficult to meaningfully compare ROIs because some investments will take longer to generate a profit than others. For this reason, professional investors tend to use other metrics, such as net present value (NPV) or the internal rate of return (IRR).

What Is a Good ROI?

What qualifies as a “good” ROI will depend on factors such as the risk tolerance of the investor and the time required for the investment to generate a return. All else being equal, investors who are more risk-averse will likely accept lower ROIs in exchange for taking less risk. Likewise, investments that take longer to pay off will generally require a higher ROI in order to be attractive to investors.

What Industries Have the Highest ROI?

Historically, the average ROI for the has been about 10% per year. Within that, though, there can be considerable variation depending on the industry. During 2020, for example, many technology companies generated annual returns well above this 10% threshold. Meanwhile, companies in other industries, such as energy companies and utilities, generated much lower ROIs and in some cases faced losses year-over-year. Over time, it is normal for the average ROI of an industry to shift due to factors such as increased competition, technological changes, and shifts in consumer preferences.

The Bottom Line

Return on investment is a metric that investors often use to evaluate the profitability of an investment or to compare returns across a number of investments. It is expressed as a percentage. ROI is limited in that it doesn't take into account the time frame, opportunity costs, or the effect of inflation on investment returns, which are all important factors to consider.

As an investment expert, I bring a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in evaluating the efficiency and profitability of various investments. I have a deep understanding of financial metrics and performance measures, and I'm well-versed in the intricacies of return on investment (ROI).

The article you provided covers key concepts related to ROI, and I'll further elaborate on each of them:

Return on Investment (ROI):
- ROI is a performance measure used to assess the efficiency or profitability of an investment.
- It is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by dividing the net profit (or loss) of an investment by its initial cost or outlay.
- The formula for ROI is: [ \text{ROI} = \dfrac{\text{Current Value of Investment} - \text{Cost of Investment}}{\text{Cost of Investment}} ]
Key Takeaways:
- ROI is a popular metric for evaluating investment performance.
- It allows for apples-to-apples comparisons and ranking of different investments.
- However, it doesn't consider the holding period or opportunity costs, and it should be compared to other available opportunities.
Usefulness of ROI:
- ROI is versatile and simple, serving as a gauge for an investment's profitability.
- A positive ROI suggests a worthwhile investment, while negative ROI indicates a net loss.
- Investors can compare ROIs to select the best options among available opportunities.
Limitations of ROI:
- ROI may have limitations when comparing investments with different time frames.
- Adjustments, such as annualizing ROI, can be made to account for varying investment durations.
- Other metrics like rate of return (RoR) and net present value (NPV) may provide additional insights.
Wider Applications of ROI:
- Social Return on Investment (SROI) considers broader impacts, including social and environmental metrics.
- New variations of ROI include social media statistics ROI and marketing statistics ROI.
- Learning ROI assesses the return on education or skills training.
Simple Terms and Calculation of ROI:
- ROI, in simple terms, measures the money made or lost on an investment after accounting for its cost.
- It is calculated by dividing the profit earned on an investment by the cost of that investment.
What Is a Good ROI:
- A "good" ROI depends on factors such as investor risk tolerance and the time required for the investment to generate a return.
- More risk-averse investors may accept lower ROIs, and longer-term investments may require higher ROIs to be attractive.
Industries and ROI:
- The average ROI historically has been around 10% per year.
- Industries experience variations in ROI; for example, technology companies may have higher returns than energy or utility companies.
The Bottom Line:
- ROI is a widely used metric, but it has limitations, including not accounting for time frame, opportunity costs, or the impact of inflation on investment returns.

In conclusion, my expertise in financial analysis and investment evaluation allows me to provide comprehensive insights into the concepts discussed in the article, offering a deeper understanding of return on investment and its applications.