In [151]: df = pd.SparseDataFrame(np.array([[0, 1, 0], [0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1]]), columns=['a', 'b', 'c'], default_fill_value=0) In [152]: df2 = pd.DataFrame(df) In [153]: df.apply(np.exp)['a'] Out[153]: 0 1.0 1 1.0 2 1.0 Name: a, dtype: Sparse[float64, 1.0] BlockIndex Block locations: array([], dtype=int32) Block lengths: array([], dtype=int32) In [155]: df2.apply(np.exp)['a'] Out[155]: 0 1.0 1 1.0 2 1.0 Name: a, dtype: float64