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Compatibility function

FORECAST

Predicts a value along a straight-line trend; still works but FORECAST.LINEAR is the current name.

CommonDifficulty 1300 · ProficientUsage rank #169 of 520
Practice · 3 questions →

When to use it

Linear forecast for a new x. Still widely used; FORECAST.LINEAR is the current name with identical results.

The shape of it

Syntax
=FORECAST(x, known_y's, known_x's)
Example
=FORECAST(13,B2:B13,A2:A13)

Worked examples

  • Next point

    =FORECAST(5,{2,4,6,9},{1,2,3,4}) → 11

    The shared regression dataset.

  • Another dataset

    =FORECAST(30,{6,7,9,15,21},{20,28,31,38,40}) → 10.607253

    Another dataset.

  • Next month

    =FORECAST(13,B2:B13,A2:A13) → 38,200

    Month 13 from twelve months.

Worth knowing

  • Identical to FORECAST.LINEAR.
  • y values first, then x.
  • Use FORECAST.ETS for seasonal data.

Where it goes wrong

  • #DIV/0! when x is constant.
  • Still works everywhere, but autocomplete steers you to FORECAST.LINEAR.

Related

MODEPERCENTILEQUARTILERANKSTDEVNORMDIST

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