Don't just ask "how much will I make?" — ask "how many shares do I sell to get my money back, and how many ride free?" Enter your position below; the math updates live.
Not a broker · Not advice · Math runs on your server
Inputs
01
Plan
02
Sell price
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Shares to sell
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Free shares
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Sold —Free —
Total cost—
Exact shares to sell—
Actual proceeds—
Surplus over cost—
Scale the position
See how the number of shares needed to recover your original capital changes as the price rises.
Target
Price
Sell
Keep
Keep value
Illustration only. This model assumes the sale proceeds are used to recover the original cost and does not include taxes, commissions, or slippage.
How the stock profit calculator works
Most profit calculators answer one question: if the stock hits $X, how much do I make? That is useful, but it leaves the harder decision untouched — what to actually do when the price gets there. This calculator plans the exit, not just the profit:
Enter your buy price and share count. That is your total cost — the number you need to get back.
Set a target gain. The calculator converts it to an exact sell price.
Read the plan. It tells you how many shares to sell at that price to recover 100% of your cost, and how many shares remain as a risk-free runner.
What "cost recovery" means
Say you buy 100 shares at $100 — $10,000 at risk. At an 11% target the sell price is $111. Selling 91 shares brings in $10,101, covering your cost in full. The 9 shares left over are free shares: your capital is back, so the worst case on the remainder is that it goes to zero — you cannot lose money you have already recovered. That is the whole philosophy behind TradingWise: decide the exit before you enter, so a winning trade cannot turn into a losing one while you hesitate.
A worked example
Buy 100 shares at $100 ($10,000 cost), target +11%. Sell price: $111.00. Exact shares to sell: 90.09 → 91 shares (rounded up, since you can't sell fractional shares). Proceeds: $10,101. Surplus: $101. Free shares remaining: 9. The scaling table above shows the same tradeoff at every target from +5% to +100%: notice how fewer shares need selling as the target rises.
Educational illustration only — not investment advice. The model excludes taxes, commissions, and slippage, and assumes you can sell at exactly the target price.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate profit on a stock trade?
Profit is (sell price − buy price) × shares sold, minus commissions and fees. The calculator above goes further: given a target gain, it tells you the exact sell price and how many shares to sell so the sale fully recovers your original cost.
How many shares should I sell to recover my cost?
Divide your total cost by the sell price per share, then round up — you can't sell a fraction of a share. The calculator does this automatically and shows both the exact figure and the rounded whole-share count.
What does it mean to have "free shares"?
After you sell enough shares at your target to recover everything you put in, the leftover shares are "free": your original capital is back in your account, so the remaining position can only ever be profit or zero.
What is a good target gain for scaling out?
There is no universal number — it depends on the stock's volatility and your strategy. The tradeoff the calculator makes visible: a higher target means selling fewer shares to recover cost (more free shares riding); a lower target is easier to hit but leaves fewer shares.
Save this plan and track it live
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