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Statistical function

INTERCEPT

Returns where the regression line crosses the y-axis.

OccasionalDifficulty 1300 · ProficientUsage rank #200 of 520
Practice · 3 questions →

When to use it

Where the least-squares line crosses the y axis: the predicted y when x is 0. With SLOPE it defines the whole line.

The shape of it

Syntax
=INTERCEPT(known_ys, known_xs)

Worked examples

  • The shared dataset

    =INTERCEPT({2,4,6,9},{1,2,3,4}) → -0.5

    Mean of y minus slope times mean of x.

  • Baseline

    =INTERCEPT(B2:B13,A2:A13) → 12,400

    Sales with zero marketing spend, the fixed base.

  • Predict by hand

    =INTERCEPT(B2:B13,A2:A13)+SLOPE(B2:B13,A2:A13)*20000 → 49,400

    A manual prediction; FORECAST.LINEAR does the same.

Worth knowing

  • Fixed versus variable cost: INTERCEPT is the fixed part, SLOPE the variable rate.
  • A negative intercept is common and only means the line does not pass through the origin.
  • Order is y then x.

Where it goes wrong

  • #DIV/0! when x is constant.
  • Extrapolating to x = 0 can be meaningless if the data is far from zero.

Related

AVERAGECOUNTCOUNTACOUNTIFCOUNTIFSMAX

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