History of Market · The Chronicle of the U.S. Stock Market S&P 500
Gathering I · leaf 12 of 27
S&P 500 · TTM PE × Forward PE

S&P 500 · TTM PE × Forward PE — S&P 500 · Trailing PE vs. Forward PE

PE ratio — TTM and forward PE against their history — is today expensive?

Two lines on the same axis. The trailing curve is cap-weighted Σ(w·P)/Σ(w·trailingEps) computed daily across 500 constituents and seeded with multpl monthly data for the years before that. The forward curve is terminal data — the blended 12-month consensus estimate — published weekly from August 1998, extended back to 1990 by quarter-end points on the same basis. The gap between the two is the market's bet on where earnings are heading.

View the interactive chart Download raw JSON

What this page answers

The S&P 500 currently trades at about 28.0× trailing earnings and 20.1× forward (consensus) earnings. Forward sitting below trailing means the market is pricing in earnings growth over the next 12 months — the gap between the two is itself a thermometer of growth expectations.

Two lines on the same axis. The trailing curve is cap-weighted Σ(w·P)/Σ(w·trailingEps) computed daily across 500 constituents and seeded with multpl monthly data for the years before that. The forward curve is terminal data — the blended 12-month consensus estimate — published weekly from August 1998, extended back to 1990 by quarter-end points on the same basis. The gap between the two is the market's bet on where earnings are heading. The data is refreshed by the History of Market pipeline and published as a stable JSON endpoint for research, citation, and AI-agent use.

The plate

S&P 500 · TTM PE × Forward PE — S&P 500 · Trailing PE vs. Forward PE10×20×30×40×200020102020TTMFWD
Plate I.12 Two lines on the same axis. The trailing curve is cap-weighted Σ(w·P)/Σ(w·trailingEps) computed daily across 500 constituents and seeded with multpl monthly data for the years before that. The forward curve is terminal data — the blended 12-month consensus estimate — published weekly from August 1998, extended back to 1990 by quarter-end points on the same basis. The gap between the two is the market's bet on where earnings are heading. 2026-08-14

Latest Snapshot

Updated
2026-08-14

S&P 500 — trailing vs forward PE (year-end readings)

S&P 500 — trailing vs forward PE (year-end readings)
DateTTM PEForward PE
2026-08-0528.0×20.1×
2025-12-2629.3×22.3×
2024-12-2728.6×21.9×
2023-12-2924.4×19.7×
2022-12-3022.7×16.8×
2021-12-3123.6×21.4×
2020-12-2539.3×22.4×
2019-12-2722.8×18.5×
2018-12-2819.4×14.5×
2017-12-2924.3×18.2×
2016-12-3023.8×17.2×
2015-12-25—16.4×
2014-12-26—16.6×
2013-12-27—15.3×
2012-12-28—12.4×
2011-12-30—11.8×
2010-12-31—13.1×
2009-12-25—14.4×
2008-12-26—11.3×
2007-12-28—14.5×
2006-12-29—14.9×
2005-12-30—14.5×
2004-12-31—15.8×
2003-12-26—17.5×
2002-12-27—15.6×
2001-12-28—21.3×
2000-12-29—21.6×
1999-12-31—25.1×
1998-12-25—24.2×
1997-12-31—19.9×
1996-12-31—16.7×
1995-12-29—17.0×
1994-12-30—15.4×
1993-12-31—17.5×
1992-12-31—18.2×
1991-12-31—19.0×
1990-12-31—13.9×

Showing the 37 most recent of 1685 observations — the full series is in the JSON: https://historyofmarket.com/api/sp500/forward-pe.json

Data & Source

GET /api/sp500/forward-pe.json — Canonical dataset endpoint.

Exchange closing prices · Company filings · Robert Shiller · FRED · NBER.

FAQ

What is the PE ratio of the S&P 500 right now?

About 28.0× trailing and 20.1× forward (next-12-month consensus), as of 2026-08-14.

Where does this data come from?

History of Market combines public market and macro datasets — exchange closing prices, company filings, Robert Shiller, FRED, NBER, and the UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook (Dimson–Marsh–Staunton). The exact endpoint for this panel is linked below.

How often is it updated?

Daily-tier datasets refresh after the U.S. market close, with a broader weekly refresh on Sunday. The timestamp shown on this page comes from the JSON payload.

Can I use the data?

Yes, for research and education with attribution to History of Market. Upstream data sources retain their own terms.