Betting a stock will fall? Enter your short price, the price you cover at, your share count and fees to get your profit or loss, return on proceeds, and break-even price — plus a clear-eyed look at the risk.
Answer first: short selling profits when a stock falls. You borrow shares, sell them now at a high price, and later buy them back at a lower price to return them — pocketing the difference. This short selling calculator turns your sell price, cover price, share count and costs into your exact profit or loss.
Profit = (Short price − Cover price) × Shares − Fees
Example: short 100 shares at $50 (proceeds $5,000), cover at $35 (cost $3,500), $10 in fees and borrow cost. Profit = ($50 − $35) × 100 − $10 = $1,490, a 29.8% return on the proceeds. Break-even is the short price minus per-share fees — about $49.90.
Shorting flips the normal risk profile, and not in your favor. When you buy a stock, the most you can lose is what you paid — it can only go to zero. When you short, your loss is theoretically unlimited, because there's no ceiling on how high the stock can rise before you're forced to buy it back. A short squeeze can turn a small loss into a catastrophic one fast.
Your maximum gain shorting is capped — the best case is the stock going to zero, returning the full sale price minus costs. Your maximum loss is not capped at all. That asymmetry is the opposite of buying a stock and is why short selling is an advanced strategy. Understand the mechanics, respect the unlimited-loss tail, and practice it with play money before risking a cent.
Reality check: It uses a single flat fee field and ignores ongoing borrow rates, dividends you owe while short, margin interest and the unlimited-loss risk of a rising stock. Short selling can lose far more than your initial proceeds. This is an educational calculator, not financial advice — verify your own numbers and see the U.S. SEC at investor.gov.
Learn the strategy in what is short selling, practice in the short selling game, and understand the margin side with the margin calculator.
Last updated 21 June 2026 · Written by Mustafa Bilgic. Educational only — not financial advice.
Subtract the price you buy back (cover) at from the price you sold short at, multiply by the number of shares, then subtract fees and borrow costs. A lower cover price than your short price means a profit; a higher one means a loss.
Yes, in theory. A stock you short can rise without limit, so the cost to buy it back has no ceiling, meaning your loss is theoretically unlimited. By contrast, a long position can only fall to zero. This asymmetry makes shorting risky.
Break-even is the short price minus your per-share costs. Below that price you profit; above it you lose. Borrow fees and any dividends you owe while short raise your effective break-even.
You pay to borrow the shares (the borrow rate), you owe any dividends paid while you're short, and the position sits in a margin account subject to interest and margin calls if the stock rises. These costs reduce your net profit.