Stock Profit Calculator
The trade arithmetic, before tax: shares times the price move, minus commissions on both sides, with the percentage return on what you actually committed.
The trade, settled to the cent — before tax
Shares times the price move is the headline; commissions quietly take their cut on both the way in and the way out. This calculator counts them on both sides, because a small-account trade with $5 tickets each way needs a real move just to break even.
Profit = shares × (sell − buy) − fees × 2 · Return = profit ÷ (shares × buy + fees)
Example: 100 shares bought at $50, sold at $65, $5 commissions each side: gross gain $1,500, fees $10, net profit $1,490, a return of 29.7% on the $5,005 committed. The same trade at $5 shares — 100 shares of a $5 stock — would see the fees take a far larger relative bite.
What this page is not
It is not a tax calculator: short versus long-term treatment, wash-sale rules and dividend income are real money and jurisdiction-specific. It is the trade arithmetic — the number you compare against your thesis for the trade, before the tax chapter opens.
How this is calculated
Profit = shares × (sell price − buy price) − 2 × per-trade fee. Return divides that profit by the total cash committed on entry (shares × buy price + entry fee). Prices are per share in the selected currency; splits and dividends are outside the model — a dividend earner belongs on the dividend calculator for its income stream.
Frequently asked questions
How do I handle a partial sell?
Run the calculator with the shares actually sold. The remaining position is a separate, still-open trade with the same buy price — your broker's cost-basis report will agree with that treatment.
What if the price is in another currency?
Convert prices to one currency before entering, or accept that the result is in the prices' currency. FX movement between buy and sell is itself part of the real return and is not separated here.
Do zero-commission trades make fees zero?
Enter 0 — but note that 'commission-free' brokers still pass through small regulatory fees and earn on spreads; for profit arithmetic the difference is minor at typical sizes.
Where do dividends fit?
They are additional return this page does not count — a stock held for years can owe much of its total return to them. The dividend calculator projects that stream on its own terms.
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