Target Price Calculator.
Know the exit before you need it.
Enter your position and an exit price to see the profit, the percentage return and what actually lands in your account — or work it backwards from the return you want.
Target Price Inputs
Enter your investment details and target selling price
Profit Calculation
Your potential returns at target price
Enter your investment details and target price to calculate potential profits
How the calculation works
Three numbers, and the one people get backwards
A target price answers a single question: if I sell here, what do I have? Three figures fall out of it, and only one of them is commonly miscalculated.
- Total profit = (target price − purchase price) × shares
- Percentage return = (target price − purchase price) ÷ purchase price × 100
- Total sale proceeds = target price × shares
The one that goes wrong is the percentage. Return is measured against what you paid, not against the price you are selling at. A stock bought at $40 and sold at $50 returned 25% — ten dollars on a forty-dollar outlay — not 20%. The distinction sounds pedantic until you compare two holdings with different entries and reach the wrong conclusion about which one did better.
The other input worth being careful about is the purchase price itself. If you have added to the position, the number that belongs here is your blended average across every lot, not the price of your first buy. Use the average down calculator to get that average, then bring it back here — a target measured against a stale entry price flatters the position, sometimes badly.
The target return price formula
Running the calculation in the direction people actually think
Nobody starts with a price. They start with a return — “I want 25% out of this” — and the useful version of the calculation converts that wish into the specific number the stock has to print.
Target Price = Purchase Price × (1 + Target Return %)And in reverse, the return earned at any price: Return % = (Target Price − Purchase Price) ÷ Purchase Price × 100.
Target price example
You buy a stock at $80 and want a 25% return:
Target Price = 80 × (1 + 0.25)Target Price = $100Selling 100 shares at $100 yields $2,000 of profit on $8,000 invested.
Doing it this way round is a reality check as much as a calculation. “I want to double my money” sounds ambitious but achievable; “this $180 stock needs to reach $360” invites the obvious follow-up question of what would have to be true for that to happen. Targets set as percentages tend to survive scrutiny that the same targets expressed as prices do not.
Worked examples
Gross, net, and after averaging down
1. The straightforward exit
200 shares bought at $45, target $60.
- Profit = ($60 − $45) × 200 = $3,000
- Return = ($60 − $45) ÷ $45 = 33.3%
- Proceeds = $60 × 200 = $12,000 against $9,000 invested
2. The same trade, after costs
Same position, held eight months, with $10 commission each way and short-term gains taxed at 24%.
- Gross profit $3,000, less $20 of commission = $2,980
- Tax at 24% on $2,980 = $715
- Net profit = $2,265, a 25.2% return rather than 33.3%
A quarter of the headline return went to costs, almost all of it to tax. Held four months longer and the same gain would have qualified for long-term treatment in the US, which is frequently a larger effect on your outcome than getting the exit price right by a dollar or two.
3. After averaging down
You bought 100 at $50, added 100 at $30, and now hold 200 shares at a $40 average.
- Old target for a 20% return on the $50 entry: $60
- New target for a 20% return on the $40 average: $48
- At $48 the position is worth $9,600 against $8,000 invested — $1,600 of profit
The target dropped twelve dollars and became far more reachable. What also changed, and is easy to lose sight of, is that the same percentage return is now being earned on $8,000 rather than $5,000 — so the position has more riding on the outcome, not less. Averaging down moves the target closer and raises the stakes at the same time.
Setting a target that is not a wish
Three defensible methods, and the one that is not
Valuation
Apply a multiple you can justify — the peer group median, or the company's own historical average — to forward earnings, and see what price that implies. Slowest method, and the only one that gives a target with a reason attached rather than a level.
Technical levels
Use a prior high, a repeatedly-tested resistance level, or a measured move from a chart pattern. Its virtue is honesty about what it is: a record of where sellers have appeared before, not a claim about value.
Risk-reward
Set the target at a fixed multiple of your stop-loss distance. Risking $5 a share, you want $10 to $15 of upside. This is the method that keeps a strategy solvent across many trades even when the individual targets are only guesses.
The method that is not a method: setting the target at the price that makes you whole. “I will sell when it gets back to what I paid” is not a valuation, and the market has no memory of your entry price. It is the most common reason people hold a declining position for years — the target was never about the company, so nothing the company does can ever change it.
Fees, tax and the net target
What you keep is the number that matters
Every figure above is gross. Three things stand between it and your account: commission on both legs of the trade, the bid-ask spread you cross on the way out, and tax on the gain. On a short-term US holding taxed as ordinary income, the last of those alone can take a third.
If the target exists to fund something specific, set it on the net figure and work backwards to the gross price that produces it. Wanting $10,000 of profit after a 24% tax from 500 shares bought at $30 means needing $13,158 before tax — $26.32 a share — so the target price is $56.32, not the $50 that a napkin calculation suggests.
Holding period is the lever with the largest effect and the least effort. In the US, gains on positions held more than a year are taxed at long-term rates well below ordinary income. Selling at your target eleven months in, when a month of patience would reclassify the entire gain, is a worse outcome than missing the target by a couple of dollars. Run the numbers through the capital gains calculator before you decide.
Target price vs target cost
Two different ends of the same position
These get searched for interchangeably and mean opposite things. A target price is where you intend to sell. A target cost is where you want your average purchase price to land — a number you reach by buying, not selling.
If what you actually need is the second one — “how many shares do I buy at today's price to get my average down to $40?” — this is the wrong tool, and the average down calculator is the right one. The two work well in sequence: set the cost you want on the way in, then set the price you want on the way out, and the gap between them is the trade.
Taking partial profits
Selling half is a real answer to an unanswerable question
A single target forces a binary call on a question nobody answers reliably: is this the top? Scaling out sidesteps it. Sell half at the first target, raise the stop on the remainder to your entry price, and let the rest run — you have locked in a gain, taken risk off the table, and kept exposure to the case where you were right and early.
Be clear-eyed about the cost. Scaling out guarantees you will underperform a full hold every time the stock keeps climbing, and the trades where that happens are the ones that make a portfolio. What you are buying with that giveaway is a much narrower range of outcomes and a decision you can make calmly in advance instead of frantically on the day.
If you scale out in stages, recalculate as you go: each partial sale changes the size of what remains, and in the US it may draw from a different tax lot than you expect. The remaining position deserves its own target rather than inheriting the one you set when it was twice the size.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate profit at a target stock price?▾
Profit = (target price - purchase price) x number of shares. Buy 200 shares at $45 and set a $60 target and you get ($60 - $45) x 200 = $3,000. The percentage return is calculated on what you paid, not on the target: ($60 - $45) / $45 = 33.3%. Total proceeds are simply the target price times the share count, which is the number your broker deposits before costs.
What is the target return price formula?▾
Target price = purchase price x (1 + target return). Working backwards from a 25% goal on an $80 entry gives $80 x 1.25 = $100. This is the useful direction of the calculation, because most people know the return they want long before they know what price produces it - and seeing that a 50% return on a $180 stock means $270 is often what makes the target feel realistic or absurd.
How do I set a realistic target price for a stock?▾
Three defensible methods. Valuation: apply a peer-group multiple to forward earnings and see what price that implies. Technical: use a prior high, a well-tested resistance level or a measured chart move as the level where selling has historically appeared. Risk-reward: set the target at two or three times your stop-loss distance, so the trade is worth taking at your hit rate. What is not a method is picking a round number, or the price that would make you whole on a loss.
What is a good profit target percentage for stocks?▾
There is no universal number, because a target is only meaningful next to the risk taken to earn it. A 10% target with a 5% stop is a sound 2:1 trade; the same 10% target with a 20% stop needs you to be right most of the time just to break even. Professional traders generally want at least 2:1 reward-to-risk. For long-term holdings, 15-20% annualised is an excellent outcome rather than a starting expectation.
What is the difference between a target price and a target cost?▾
A target price is where you intend to sell - the exit. A target cost is where you want your average purchase price to end up - the entry. They are opposite ends of the same position and they need different tools: this page handles the exit, and the average down calculator handles the entry by telling you how many shares to buy to reach a given average cost.
Does my target price need to account for brokerage and tax?▾
Yes, and this is where paper targets fall apart. A 20% gross gain on a short-term holding taxed at 30%, with commission on both the buy and the sell, is closer to 13% in hand. If your target was set to fund something specific, set it on the net number and work backwards to the gross price it requires - otherwise you hit your target and still fall short of the goal it was meant to serve.
Should I take partial profits at my target price?▾
Scaling out is common practice: sell half at the first target and hold the rest with a stop raised to your entry, which locks in a gain while leaving the position free to run. The cost is real - you will underperform a full hold in the cases where the stock keeps climbing - and the benefit is that it removes the need to be exactly right about the top, which almost nobody is.
What happens to my target if I average down first?▾
Averaging down lowers your average cost, so the price that delivers any given percentage return falls with it. A $50 basis needing $60 for a 20% return becomes a $40 basis needing $48 for the same 20%. The target got much closer, but you are earning that return on a larger position, so the money at risk went up. Recalculate the target after every purchase - a target set against your original entry is stale the moment you add.
How is a target price different from an analyst price target?▾
An analyst price target is that firm's twelve-month valuation estimate, published for its clients and revised as often as the news changes. Yours is a decision about when you will sell. They answer different questions, and treating a published target as a plan means outsourcing your exit to someone with a different holding period, a different cost basis and no knowledge of your tax position.
What if the stock never reaches my target price?▾
That is the ordinary case, not the failure case, which is why a target should always be paired with two other numbers: the price at which you would exit for a loss, and the date at which an unmoved position gets reviewed regardless of price. A target with no time limit turns into an indefinite hold justified by a number you picked once, and dead money has a cost even when it is not falling.
Can I use this calculator for ETFs, crypto or options?▾
For ETFs and crypto, yes - the maths only needs a quantity and two prices, and neither instrument changes that. Options are different: a standard equity contract controls 100 shares, so profit is multiplied by the contract size, and the value of the option before expiry depends on volatility and time as well as the underlying price. Use the options profit calculator for those.
Should I use a limit order at my target price?▾
A limit order to sell at your target executes automatically if the price trades there, which removes the moment of hesitation that costs people their exits. The trade-off is that it will fill during a spike you might have wanted to ride, and it will not fill at all if the price stops just short. Many investors set the limit slightly below a round number, since round numbers attract clustered orders that price often fails to clear.
Related investment guides
Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational purposes only and is not financial or tax advice. Tax figures used in the examples are illustrative US rates; your own rate and rules will differ. Consult a qualified adviser before making investment decisions.