yfinance Data Skill
Fetches financial and market data from Yahoo Finance using the yfinance Python library.
Important: yfinance is not affiliated with Yahoo, Inc. Data is for research and educational purposes.
Step 1: Ensure yfinance Is Available
Before running any code, install yfinance if needed:
import subprocess, sys
subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "pip", "install", "-q", "yfinance"])
Always include this at the top of your script.
Step 2: Identify What the User Needs
Match the user's request to one or more data categories below, then use the corresponding code from references/api_reference.md.
| User Request | Data Category | Primary Method |
|---|---|---|
| Stock price, quote | Current price | ticker.info or ticker.fast_info |
| Price history, chart data | Historical OHLCV | ticker.history() or yf.download() |
| Balance sheet | Financial statements | ticker.balance_sheet |
| Income statement, revenue | Financial statements | ticker.income_stmt |
| Cash flow | Financial statements | ticker.cashflow |
| Dividends | Corporate actions | ticker.dividends |
| Stock splits | Corporate actions | ticker.splits |
| Options chain, calls, puts | Options data | ticker.option_chain() |
| Earnings, EPS | Analysis | ticker.earnings_history |
| Analyst price targets | Analysis | ticker.analyst_price_targets |
| Recommendations, ratings | Analysis | ticker.recommendations |
| Upgrades/downgrades | Analysis | ticker.upgrades_downgrades |
| Institutional holders | Ownership | ticker.institutional_holders |
| Insider transactions | Ownership | ticker.insider_transactions |
| Company overview, sector | General info | ticker.info |
| Compare multiple stocks | Bulk download | yf.download() |
| Screen/filter stocks | Screener | yf.Screener + yf.EquityQuery |
| Sector/industry data | Market data | yf.Sector / yf.Industry |
| News | News | ticker.news |
Step 3: Write and Execute the Code
General pattern
import subprocess, sys
subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "pip", "install", "-q", "yfinance"])
import yfinance as yf
ticker = yf.Ticker("AAPL")
# ... use the appropriate method from the reference
Key rules
- Always wrap in try/except — Yahoo Finance may rate-limit or return empty data
- Use
yf.download()for multi-ticker comparisons — it's faster with multi-threading - For options, list expiration dates first with
ticker.optionsbefore callingticker.option_chain(date) - For quarterly data, use
quarterly_prefix:ticker.quarterly_income_stmt,ticker.quarterly_balance_sheet,ticker.quarterly_cashflow - For large date ranges, be mindful of intraday limits — 1m data only goes back ~7 days, 1h data ~730 days
- Print DataFrames clearly — use
.to_string()or.to_markdown()for readability, or select key columns
Valid periods and intervals
| Periods | 1d, 5d, 1mo, 3mo, 6mo, 1y, 2y, 5y, 10y, ytd, max |
|---|---|
| Intervals | 1m, 2m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 60m, 90m, 1h, 1d, 5d, 1wk, 1mo, 3mo |
Step 4: Present the Data
After fetching data, present it clearly:
- Summarize key numbers in a brief text response (current price, market cap, P/E, etc.)
- Show tabular data formatted for readability — use markdown tables or formatted DataFrames
- Highlight notable items — earnings beats/misses, unusual volume, dividend changes
- Provide context — compare to sector averages, historical ranges, or analyst consensus when relevant
If the user seems to want a chart or visualization, combine with an appropriate visualization approach (e.g., generate an HTML chart or describe the trend).
Reference Files
references/api_reference.md— Complete yfinance API reference with code examples for every data category
Read the reference file when you need exact method signatures or edge case handling.