CME
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $12.50 per tick — $50 × the S&P 500 index.
The E-mini S&P 500 (ES) is the most heavily traded equity index future in the world, and for many traders it is the first — and often only — futures contract they ever trade. Each contract represents $50 times the S&P 500 index, so with the index at 5,000 a single ES contract controls $250,000 of notional exposure. The minimum price increment is 0.25 index points, which works out to $12.50 per tick: a routine 20-point session move swings each contract by $1,000.
That size is exactly why the math matters before entry. A 10-point stop on ES is 40 ticks, or $500 per contract — a figure that should be compared against your account's per-trade risk budget, not guessed at. Traders who find full-size ES too coarse for their account can trade the Micro E-mini (MES), which tracks the same index at one-tenth the multiplier. Use the calculator below to convert any entry, stop and contract count into dollars before the market does it for you.
- Exchange
- CME
- Contract size
- $50 × the S&P 500 index
- Tick size
- 0.25
- Tick value
- $12.50
- Point value (multiplier)
- $50
- Trading hours
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 4:15pm–4:30pm ET
- Margin
- Margin varies by broker and typically moves with volatility — check your broker for current initial/maintenance margin.
How ES tick value works
Tick value is the dollar amount one futures contract gains or loses when the price moves one minimum increment (one tick).
tick value = tick size × multiplier. For ES, that is 0.25 × $50 = $12.50 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents $50 × the S&P 500 index. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
ES contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. ESZ2026 is the December 2026 ES contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for ES? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | No |
| G | February | No |
| H | March | Yes — ESH |
| J | April | No |
| K | May | No |
| M | June | Yes — ESM |
| N | July | No |
| Q | August | No |
| U | September | Yes — ESU |
| V | October | No |
| X | November | No |
| Z | December | Yes — ESZ |
Which ES contract am I looking at?
Most charts default to the continuous front-month series rather than a dated contract — one stitched-together chart that rolls to the next month as the current one nears expiry. Every platform spells it differently, which is why the same contract appears under so many names.
| Written as | Platform | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ES1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. ESZ2026. |
| ES00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "ESZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| ESc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /ES | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /ESZ26. |
| ES=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $ES | StockTwits, social | A cashtag, not an exchange symbol. It usually means the front month, but it is informal and ambiguous. |
A dated code such as ESZ26 always means one specific contract; the continuous forms never do. Check which you are quoting before comparing a price to someone else’s — around a roll they differ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tick value for ES?
- $12.50 per tick — a 0.25 tick size × a $50 multiplier (point value).
- What is one ES contract worth?
- One contract represents $50 × the S&P 500 index. Notional value = price × $50; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists ES?
- E-mini S&P 500 (ES) trades on the CME.
- What are the trading hours for ES?
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 4:15pm–4:30pm ET.
- How much margin do I need to trade ES?
- Margin varies by broker and typically moves with volatility — check your broker for current initial/maintenance margin.
- What are the ES contract months?
- ES lists March, June, September and December.
- What does ESZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific ES contract: the root ES, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so ESZ2026 is the December 2026 contract. The codes run F G H J K M N Q U V X Z for January through December — I and L are skipped because they read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
- What is ES00, ES1! or /ES?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month ES contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses ES00, TradingView ES1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /ES, Yahoo Finance ES=F, and ES on social media is usually written $ES. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for ES?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 0.25 tick size × $12.50 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
More futures contract specs
- MES — Micro E-mini S&P 500Tick value $1.25 · CME
- NQ — E-mini Nasdaq-100Tick value $5.00 · CME
- MNQ — Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100Tick value $0.50 · CME
- YM — E-mini DowTick value $5.00 · CBOT
See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-06. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.