paper profit
noun
: a profit that can be realized only by selling something (such as a security) that has appreciated in market value
Examples of paper profit in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
By Matthew Schifrin, Forbes Staff Michael Price and Michael Steinhardt have a huge paper profit in Sunbeam Corp.— but haven’t been able to cash out.
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Matt Schifrin, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
The stock and warrant offering was priced at $3.47 per share, meaning the investors have already made a handsome paper profit.
—Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 14 Feb. 2025
So while the millions of shares would deliver Trump some $1 billion in additional stock, turning that paper profit into real cash is going to take some time.
—Bailey Lipschultz, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
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
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
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Matt Schifrin, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
The stock and warrant offering was priced at $3.47 per share, meaning the investors have already made a handsome paper profit.
—Ben Berkowitz, Axios, 14 Feb. 2025
So while the millions of shares would deliver Trump some $1 billion in additional stock, turning that paper profit into real cash is going to take some time.
—Bailey Lipschultz, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
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
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
Cite this Entry
“Paper profit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paper%20profit. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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