Stock Profit Calculator
Calculate the profit or loss on any stock trade in seconds. Enter your buy price, sell price, number of shares, and broker commissions to see your exact net profit, percentage return, and profit per share — all free and private.
How Stock Profit Is Calculated
When you buy and sell stocks, your actual profit is not simply (sell price − buy price) × shares. Broker commissions eat into your returns, so the real formula accounts for both entry and exit fees. Based on IRS and brokerage reporting conventions, a stock trade's net result is calculated as follows:
Stock Profit Formulas
Total Cost = (Buy Price × Shares) + Buy Commission
Total Revenue = (Sell Price × Shares) − Sell Commission
Net Profit / Loss = Total Revenue − Total Cost
Return % = (Net Profit / Total Cost) × 100
Profit per Share = Net Profit / Number of Shares
- Total Cost — what you actually paid, including buying fee
- Total Revenue — what you received after the selling fee
- Net Profit — real gain or loss after all costs
- Return % — profit as a percentage of total money invested
Stock Profit for Different Trading Styles
Day traders and long-term investors both benefit from tracking exact profit figures. For day traders making multiple trades, even small commission differences compound quickly across dozens of positions. For long-term investors, comparing percentage return against a benchmark like the S&P 500 (historically ~10% annually) helps evaluate whether a stock holding is worth keeping.
If your stock pays dividends, remember this calculator shows capital gain only. Your total return from dividends should be added separately. For stocks held over one year in the US, profits qualify for long-term capital gains tax rates — typically 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on income — which is significantly lower than short-term rates taxed as ordinary income.
Break-Even Price and Useful Benchmarks
Your break-even sell price — the price at which you neither profit nor lose — is: (Total Cost) ÷ Shares. Any sell price above this point is a profit. Common benchmarks to keep in mind: a 10% annual gain matches historical average stock market returns; a 20%+ gain on a single trade is considered strong outperformance; and a loss beyond −10% from your buy price is a common stop-loss trigger used by professional traders. Last updated: April 2026.