Yield To Maturity
Yield To Maturity - Related Videos
01:18
Calculating the Yield to Maturity
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2025
Yield to maturity (YTM) is the expected return an investor can earn by holding a bond until it matures. It is calculated as the discount rate that equates the bond's current market price with the present value of all future cash flows, including coupon payments and the face value. YTM assumes coupons are reinvested at the same rate and the bond is held to maturity. YTM is influenced by factors such as the bond's price, time to maturity, coupon payments, face value, and market conditions like...
01:24
Bond Yields and the Yield Curve: Putting It All Together
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2026
Bond yields and the yield curve are fundamental components of fixed-income markets, influencing investment decisions, economic policies, and financial conditions. Bond yields reflect the annual return an investor can expect from holding a bond until maturity. Prevailing interest rates, bond prices, and credit risk influence these yields. Since bond prices and yields move inversely, a rise in bond prices results in lower yields, while a decline in bond prices leads to higher yields.The yield...
FAQs
The bond’s current market price is a central driver of YTM because the rate must reconcile that price with the present value of promised cash flows. If the same coupons and principal are available at a different price, the balancing rate changes. This makes YTM useful for interpreting how market pricing affects an investment’s implied annualized return.
Coupon rate and YTM describe different aspects of a bond’s economics. The coupon rate determines the stated coupon payments included in the bond’s cash flows, whereas YTM is the rate that discounts those payments and principal to the observed price. Consequently, two bonds can have different coupon rates yet be compared through their YTMs, provided their promised cash flows and maturity assumptions are incorporated within the same valuation framework.
The reinvestment assumption links the calculated rate to the return an investor would earn over the full holding period. YTM presumes that coupon payments can be reinvested at the same rate and that all promised payments occur. If either condition is not met, the investor’s realized outcome may differ from the annualized return indicated by the calculation.
A YTM calculation requires the bond’s current market price, its future coupon payments, the principal due at maturity, and the remaining time to maturity. These cash flows are discounted at a rate that makes their present value equal to the observed price. The resulting rate represents the bond’s implied annualized return under the stated assumptions.
YTM places bonds with different market prices on a common annualized-return basis by incorporating their prices, coupon payments, principal, and time to maturity. This allows an investor to compare securities with different cash-flow structures more consistently than by looking at coupon payments alone. The comparison remains tied to the assumption that promised payments occur and are reinvested at the same rate.
In bond valuation, YTM connects a security’s market price with the present value of its expected coupon payments and principal. Investors can then consider whether the implied potential return is appropriate relative to the bond’s interest-rate and credit risks. This makes YTM a useful analytical measure, although its interpretation depends on the payment and reinvestment assumptions underlying the calculation.