Scale-Out Calculator
Plan taking profit across several targets: blended exit price, total profit and what scaling out gives up against holding.
Most position sizing assumes a single exit. In practice many traders close in tranches — some at the first target, more at the second, the rest left to run — and that tiered profit taking produces a result which is neither the first target nor the last. This scale-out calculator prices a plan with multiple take-profit levels rather than a single one.
Formula: blended exit = sum of each target x its share of the position
Your figures
Total size, in units of the instrument, before any is closed.
Optional — adds the blended reward-to-risk and R multiples.
Commission, spread and fees across the whole position.
Your scale-out plan
Profit if every target is reached
+US$2,850.00
blended exit at US$109.50
- Target 1 — US$105.00 · 50%150 units · 5.00% from entry · 1.00R
- +US$750.00
- Target 2 — US$110.00 · 30%90 units · 10.00% from entry · 2.00R
- +US$900.00
- Target 3 — US$120.00 · 20%60 units · 20.00% from entry · 4.00R
- +US$1,200.00
- Blended exit priceThe weighted average of every target, by allocation.
- US$109.50
- Risk to the stop
- US$1,500.00
- Blended risk / reward
- 1.90 : 1
- Break-even win rate for this plan
- 34.48%
- If only the first target is reachedThe protection scaling out buys, if the move stalls.
- +US$750.00
- Holding it all to the furthest target
- +US$6,000.00
- Given up versus holdingThe cost of the insurance, if the furthest target is reached.
- US$3,150.00
What this means
Closing in tranches gives a blended exit of US$109.50 and US$2,850.00 if every target is reached, a blended 1.90 : 1 against the stop. That is US$3,150.00 less than holding the whole position to the furthest target — the price of the insurance. What it buys is the US$750.00 banked if the move stalls after the first target, which holding would not have.
- Scaling out trades expected value for consistency. It makes less when the furthest target is reached and more when it is not — this shows both sides so the trade-off is explicit.
- Assumes every target fills at its price. In a fast move the later tranches may fill better or worse, and a gap can skip a target entirely.
- Costs are applied to the plan as a whole. In practice each partial close is charged separately, which raises the total on a plan with many tranches.
Profit if every target is reached: +US$2,850.00
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Continue with these figures
About the Scale-Out calculation
It is a partial take-profit calculator as much as an exit planner: every tranche is priced on its own before the blend is taken. The blended exit price is a weighted average, and the weighting is by how much of the position each target closes rather than by how far away it is. A plan closing half at a near target and a fifth at a distant one sits much closer to the near one than it looks.
The honest way to assess a scale-out is to see both sides of the trade-off at once: what it gives up when the furthest target is reached, and what it protects when the move stalls. This calculator reports both, because a page that only showed the upside would be arguing rather than calculating.
Scale-Out formula
blended exit = Σ (targetᵢ × percentᵢ ÷ 100)
profit per tranche = move to targetᵢ × (units × percentᵢ ÷ 100)
total profit = Σ profit per tranche − costs
blended R:R = total profit ÷ risk to the stop
break-even rate = (risk + costs) ÷ (risk + gross profit)- tranche
- One portion of the position closed at one target.
- blended exit
- The single price that would have produced the same total profit.
- allocation
- The share of the position closed at each target. Must total 100%.
- gross profit
- The plan's profit before costs — the sum of the tranches. Costs are subtracted separately in the break-even rate rather than netted off here, because a loser pays them too.
- break-even rate
- The share of trades that must win for the plan to come out level. With no costs it reduces to 1 ÷ (1 + blended R:R); costs raise it, because they are added to what a loss costs and taken off what a win pays at the same time.
Allocations must total exactly 100%. A plan that accounts for only part of the position leaves the remainder undefined, and every blended figure would be quietly wrong rather than obviously incomplete — so the calculator refuses rather than guessing.
The blended exit price is a genuinely useful summary because it collapses the whole plan into one number that can be compared against a single-target plan directly. If the blended exit is 109.50, the plan is arithmetically identical to closing everything at 109.50.
Targets are ordered by distance from entry regardless of the order they are typed, so the cumulative column reads in the sequence the market would actually reach them. That ordering is what makes the 'if only the first target is hit' figure meaningful.
The comparison against holding is the part worth dwelling on. Scaling out always makes less than holding when the furthest target is reached — that difference is the premium paid — and always makes more when the move stalls partway. Neither is better in general; which one you want depends on how often your targets actually get hit.
Scale-Out: a worked example
A long of 300 units at 100.00, closing 50% at 105, 30% at 110 and 20% at 120, with a stop at 95.
- Blended exit105(0.5) + 110(0.3) + 120(0.2) = 109.50
- Tranche 15.00 × 150 units = $750
- Tranche 210.00 × 90 units = $900
- Tranche 320.00 × 60 units = $1,200
- Total profit$2,850
- Risk to the stop5.00 × 300 = $1,500
- Blended reward-to-risk2,850 ÷ 1,500 = 1.90 : 1
$2,850 against $6,000 for holding everything to 120 — $3,150 given up. In exchange, $750 is banked if the move stalls just past the first target, which holding would not have.
How to use the Scale-Out calculator
- Enter the entry, direction and total position size first.
- Add each target with the percentage of the position closed there. The percentages must total 100.
- Add the stop-loss to get the blended reward-to-risk and the R multiple of each tranche.
- Read the blended exit price — it is the single-target equivalent of the whole plan.
- Compare 'given up versus holding' against 'if only the first target is reached'. Those two numbers are the entire trade-off.
Limitations of the Scale-Out calculator
Every calculation makes assumptions. These are the ones that matter here.
- Assumes every target fills at its price. A gap can skip a target entirely, and in a fast move later tranches may fill materially better or worse.
- Costs are applied to the plan as a whole. Each partial close is charged separately in practice, so a plan with many tranches costs more than one with few.
- Assumes the stop stays where it is. Traders who move the stop up after the first target change the risk, and therefore the blended ratio, mid-trade.
- Says nothing about whether the targets are well chosen. It prices the plan you describe.
Frequently asked questions about Scale-Out
Does scaling out of a trade make more money than holding?
Not when the furthest target is reached — it makes strictly less, and this calculator shows exactly how much less. It makes more when the move stalls partway. Whether that trade is worth making depends on how often your furthest targets actually get hit, which is a question about your own record.
Why must the percentages total 100?
Because anything less leaves part of the position with no defined exit, which would make the blended price and total profit wrong without being obviously wrong. Refusing is safer than guessing what happens to the remainder.
What is the blended exit price actually for?
Comparison. It reduces a multi-target plan to the single price that would produce the same result, so you can weigh it against a one-target plan without doing the arithmetic in your head.
Should I move my stop after the first target?
Many traders do, and it changes the numbers here — the risk falls, so the blended ratio improves on the remainder. This calculator prices a fixed stop. The partial close calculator handles what happens after a tranche is banked.
How many take-profit levels should I use?
This calculator does not recommend a number. More targets smooth the outcome and cost more in commission; fewer do the reverse. Entering two or three variations and comparing the given-up figures is a more useful exercise than any general rule.
Last reviewed . See our methodology and editorial policy.
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