Understanding Ticker Symbols
Learn how to format ticker symbols for US stocks, crypto, and international markets.
What is a Ticker Symbol?
A ticker symbol is a unique series of letters assigned to a publicly traded company. It’s used to identify the company on stock exchanges and in trading systems. In Tickerdata, ticker format varies by asset class.
Asset Class Formatting
US Stocks
Use the standard ticker symbol without any suffix. Tickerdata automatically routes to the correct exchange.
=TICKERDATALIVE("AAPL", "Price")=TICKERDATA.LIVE("AAPL", "Price")| Company | Ticker | Exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | NASDAQ |
| Microsoft | MSFT | NASDAQ |
| Tesla | TSLA | NASDAQ |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | NYSE |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRK-B | NYSE |
Cryptocurrency
Combine the coin symbol with the fiat currency code (no hyphen or dash).
=TICKERDATALIVE("BTCUSD", "Price")=TICKERDATA.LIVE("BTCUSD", "Price")Warning
| Cryptocurrency | Correct Format | Incorrect Formats |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | BTCUSD | BTC, BTC-USD, Bitcoin |
| Ethereum | ETHUSD | ETH, ETH-USD |
| Solana | SOLUSD | SOL, SOL-USD |
International Stocks
Use exchange suffixes similar to Yahoo Finance format. The suffix indicates which exchange the stock trades on.
=TICKERDATALIVE("MC.PA", "Price")=TICKERDATA.LIVE("MC.PA", "Price")Tip
Common Exchange Suffixes
| Exchange | Suffix | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Euronext Paris | .PA | MC.PA |
| London Stock Exchange | .L | HSBA.L |
| Tokyo Stock Exchange | .T | 7203.T |
| Toronto Stock Exchange | .TO | SHOP.TO |
| Hong Kong | .HK | 0700.HK |
| NSE India | .NS | RELIANCE.NS |
| Bombay Stock Exchange | .BO | RELIANCE.BO |
| Australian Exchange | .AX | BHP.AX |
| German Exchanges | .DE, .F | SAP.DE |
| Swiss Exchange | .SW | NESN.SW |
See Supported Exchanges for the complete list of 70+ exchanges.
Finding Ticker Symbols
Not sure what ticker to use? Here are some tips:
- Check Yahoo Finance: The ticker format matches Yahoo Finance symbols
- Search the company name: Google ”[Company] stock ticker”
- Company investor relations: Usually lists the ticker symbol
- Use our search: The
Cmd+Ksearch can help find tickers
ETFs and Funds
ETFs use standard US ticker symbols, e.g. SPY, QQQ, VTI, IWM:
=TICKERDATALIVE("SPY", "Price")=TICKERDATA.LIVE("SPY", "Price")Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Problem | Correct Format |
|---|---|---|
BTC | Missing currency for crypto | BTCUSD |
BTC-USD | Hyphen in crypto | BTCUSD |
AAPL.US | Unnecessary suffix for US stocks | AAPL |
LSE:HSBA | Wrong prefix format | HSBA.L |
Next Steps
- Browse the Attribute Explorer to see all data points available for each ticker
- View all Supported Exchanges
- Learn about Data Types available for each ticker
- Start with TICKERDATALIVE for live prices
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