IF Comparison Function Not Returning Correct Data

I'm trying to compare three formula results and return the largest number. Ex.:

22 17 9 22

The first three numbers are formula results and the last is the following formula:

=IF(O5>P5,O5,IF(P5>Q5,P5,Q5))

Unfortunately, with the list below, you can see the last number (the comparison formula) isn't always the greater of the three:

22 17 9 22
20 17 9 20
0 17 9 9
0 13 9 9
0 13 9 9
0 12 9 9
0 12 9 9
0 12 9 9
0 12 9 9
0 11 9 9
0 11 9 9
0 10 9 9
0 0 8 8
0 0 7 7
0 0 7 7

I've also tried other formulas, with no success:

=LARGE(O5:Q5,1)
=MAX(O5:Q5)
=IF(MAX(O5:Q5)=O5,O5,IF(MAX(O5:Q5)=P5,P5,IF(MAX(O5:Q5)=Q5,Q5,"Error")))

What's odd is that if I create the formulas above independent of the specific formula data (O5, P5, and Q5) and just type in numbers, those formulas do exactly what they should. Can I not compare data returned though formula calculations?

Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Your formula did it:

=MAX(--O5,--P5,--Q5)

I'm not an expert, so the hyphens you added are new to me. What functionality did that change?

If Sambo kid's suggestion doesn't work, try multiplying each of the three formulas by 1 (=[FORMULA]*1). Then, the MAX formula should work.

Also, the first formula you used compares O against P and if O is greater, it returns O and ignores the value in Q. Only if O is less than P does your formula evaluate Q.

If you truly want the largest of the three, stick with MAX

I see. Very nice, indeed.

The cells are formatted as numbers, however, but I'll certainly keep that trick in the back of my mind.

Many thanks, all.

sorry, looks like my response was too delayed

Originally Posted by ATLGator

If Sambo kid's suggestion doesn't work, try multiplying each of the three formulas by 1 (=[FORMULA]*1). Then, the MAX formula should work.

Also, the first formula you used compares O against P and if O is greater, it returns O and ignores the value in Q. Only if O is less than P does your formula evaluate Q.

If you truly want the largest of the three, stick with MAX

The way the formulas are set up, only numbers greater than 18 will show in O, otherwise it's a 0. I will use MAX from now on, however - I'm just used to IF statements, I suppose. Thank you for the feedback.