Stock Loss Recovery Calculator
After a loss you have less money working for you, so the gain needed to get back to even is always bigger than the loss. Enter your loss to see the break-even gain — a 50% loss needs a 100% gain, not 50%.
How it works
Losses and the gains that undo them are not symmetric. If a $100 stock falls 50% to $50, a later 50% gain only takes it to $75 — you need a 100% gain to get back to $100. The deeper the hole, the steeper the climb out, because each gain is measured against the shrunken balance, not your original one.
This is why protecting capital matters more than chasing returns: avoiding a big drawdown is worth far more than it looks. Size positions so a single trade can't force a recovery you'll never realistically make — see the position size calculator. For the full intuition, read Recovering from a stock loss.
The break-even gain for common losses
| If you lose… | …you need this gain to break even |
|---|---|
| -10% | +11.1% |
| -20% | +25.0% |
| -30% | +42.9% |
| -40% | +66.7% |
| -50% | +100% |
| -60% | +150% |
| -70% | +233% |
| -80% | +400% |
| -90% | +900% |
Worked example
You put $10,000 into a stock and it falls 50%:
- Your position is now worth $5,000 (you are down $5,000).
- To get back to $10,000 you must turn $5,000 into $10,000 — a +100% gain, not +50%.
- The dollars you need to make back ($5,000) equal the dollars you lost — but as a percentage of what's left, the climb is twice as steep.
The formula
break-even gain = loss / (1 - loss) example: 0.50 / (1 - 0.50) = 1.00 = +100% remaining value = investment x (1 - loss) amount to make back = investment x loss
FAQ
- Why isn't a 50% gain enough to recover a 50% loss?
- Because the gain is calculated on your reduced balance. After a 50% loss you only have half your money, so a 50% gain on that half only gets you to 75% of where you started. You need to double what's left, a 100% gain.
- What gain do I need to recover an 80% or 90% loss?
- An 80% loss needs a 400% gain to break even; a 90% loss needs a 900% gain. The required gain rises sharply as the loss approaches 100%, which is why deep drawdowns are so hard to come back from.
- Does this account for fees, dividends or taxes?
- No, it's the pure price-recovery math. Fees and taxes make the real break-even slightly harder; reinvested dividends make it easier. Use it as the baseline target, then adjust for your costs.
- How do I avoid needing huge recovery gains?
- Limit the size of any single loss. Position sizing and stop levels keep individual drawdowns small enough that the break-even gain stays realistic, instead of needing a once-in-a-decade move to recover.