Stock Profit Calculator

Enter your trade details to see net profit after fees, your percentage return, and the price you need just to break even.

How stock profit is calculated

The core math is simple; the details are where traders slip:

Fees belong on both sides of the trade. Even with today's commission-free brokers, SEC/FINRA fees, spread costs, FX conversion on foreign listings, and fund redemption fees all eat into returns — and on small trades, a $1 fee on a $100 position is a full 1% before the market moves at all.

Return vs. price change — they're not the same

If you buy at $50 and sell at $62, the price moved 24% — but your return on cost also depends on what you put in. Leverage aside, price change and return are equal only when fees are zero and you bought with cash. Two further distortions matter: holding periods (a 24% gain in 3 months annualizes to a very different number — see the CAGR calculator), and dividends, which this calculator excludes but which add meaningfully to total return over years.

Taxes are the third silent cost. In the US, gains on shares held over a year qualify for long-term capital gains rates (0–20%), while short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income — sometimes nearly double the bite. Position timing around the one-year line is one of the few reliably free improvements available to a taxable account.

Frequently asked questions