Data Import & Export

How to Fix Excel Stocks Data Type Showing Incorrect Ticker Information

Amos Gikunda Oct 21, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to correct the Excel Stocks data type when it retrieves the wrong company information for a specific ticker symbol.

How to Fix Excel Stocks Data Type Showing Incorrect Ticker Information

Product: Microsoft Excel
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Using the Stocks data type to fetch financial and market data for specific company ticker symbols.
Observed behavior: Excel misidentifies ambiguous tickers, such as identifying the ticker 'ET' as Evertz Technologies instead of Energy Transfer.

Before you start

Ensure you have an active internet connection so the spreadsheet application can successfully connect to the financial data source to retrieve and verify stock information.

Solution 1Recommended

Specify the Exchange and Full Company Name

Resolve ambiguous ticker symbols by providing Excel with the specific stock exchange prefix or typing the full company name before converting.

Because ticker symbols can be identical across different global markets and exchanges, Excel's data provider (Refinitiv) might default to an unintended company if the input is too broad.

Select the target cell

Click on the cell containing the ambiguous ticker symbol (e.g., 'ET').

Edit the cell content

Replace the short ticker symbol with the exchange code and ticker (e.g., 'NYSE:ET') or type the full company name (e.g., 'Energy Transfer').

Apply the Stocks data type

Navigate to the 'Data' tab on the ribbon and click on 'Stocks' in the Data Types group.

Review the Data Selector pane

If a Data Selector sidebar opens on the right side of the screen, review the list of suggested matches and click 'Select' next to the correct company.

Specify the Exchange and Full Company Name

Best Practice: Consistently adding the exchange prefix (like XNAS: for NASDAQ or NYSE: for New York Stock Exchange) prevents data mismatches when working with large lists of stocks.

Solution 2

Submit Feedback on Incorrect Financial Data

If the stock data remains incorrect after specifying the exchange, report the issue directly to Microsoft so the third-party data provider can correct the mapping.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Excel Stocks fetch the wrong company for my ticker symbol?

Ticker symbols can be ambiguous and are often shared across multiple global exchanges. Since Excel retrieves this data from Refinitiv, the system may default to a different exchange's company if the specific market isn't defined in the cell.

How can I force Excel to choose the correct stock exchange?

You can force the correct match by typing the exchange abbreviation followed by a colon and the ticker symbol (for example, typing 'XNAS:MSFT' for NASDAQ or 'NYSE:ET' for the New York Stock Exchange) before clicking the Stocks data type button.

Can I manually edit the data provided by the Stocks data type?

No, the data populated by the Stocks data type is read-only and automatically updated from Refinitiv. If the retrieved financial data is incorrect, you must either change the search term in the linked cell or submit feedback to Microsoft to correct the external data source.

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