paper profit

noun

: a profit that can be realized only by selling something (such as a security) that has appreciated in market value

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web But even with that step back in price, Musk is looking at an on-paper profit of roughly $1.1 billion on his $2.6 billion investment. Chris Isidore, CNN, 6 Apr. 2022 Stock prices and business valuations go down as well as up — $1 in on-paper profit today could be $5 in real-world losses tomorrow. Nr Editors, National Review, 31 Mar. 2022 Tesla has already made around $1 billion in paper profit on its $1.5 billion bitcoin investment, estimates Wedbush Securities’ Daniel Ives. David Meyer, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2021 The reasons for these paper profits are disconcerting. Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2020 In other words, SoftBank is heavily reliant on paper profits. Tim Culpan | Bloomberg, Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2019 In some cases, SoftBank's involvement in multiple funding rounds helped drive up valuations that resulted in paper profits for Son’s company. Peter Elstrom, Fortune, 26 Nov. 2019 In the past, this line has included paper profits from revaluing stakes in bike-rental and fintech startups. Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019 The fund, which is sitting on large paper profits from its initial investment, held around $321.8 million worth of Didi shares at the end of July. Stella Yifan Xie, WSJ, 28 Oct. 2018 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'paper profit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of paper profit was in 1893

Dictionary Entries Near paper profit

Cite this Entry

“Paper profit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paper%20profit. Accessed 23 Mar. 2023.

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