— Stock Market
Portfolio Return Calculator
Measure total portfolio return across holdings. Enter invested amount and current value for each position to see total gain, return, annualized CAGR, holding weights, contribution to return, benchmark comparison, and allocation chart.
Total return
31%
- Total portfolio value
- $26,200
- Total invested
- $20,000
- Total gain / loss
- $6,200
Try: Three-holding portfolio, Annualized over 3 years, vs an 8% benchmark, A portfolio in the red
— Per-holding breakdown
| Holding | Invested | Current | Return | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock A | $10,000 | $15,000 | 50% | 57.25% | 25% |
| Stock B | $5,000 | $6,000 | 20% | 22.9% | 5% |
| Bonds | $5,000 | $5,200 | 4% | 19.85% | 1% |
— Allocation by current value
Download— How it works
Holding return = (current − invested) ÷ invested. Portfolio return = total gain ÷ total invested. CAGR = (total current ÷ total invested)^(1 ÷ years) − 1. A holding’s contribution to the portfolio return = its gain ÷ total invested.
Why the whole portfolio differs from any one stock
Your portfolio return isn’t the average of your holdings’ returns — it’s value-weighted. A position that doubled barely moves the needle if it’s a small slice, while a big holding that lags drags everything down. The calculator totals what you invested and what it’s worth now, so the headline return reflects the real money. It also breaks out each holding’s contribution — its gain as a share of total invested — and those contributions add up exactly to your portfolio return, showing precisely what drove (or dented) performance.
Worked example — $10k → $15k, $5k → $6k, $5k → $5.2k: Total invested $20,000, now worth $26,200 — a $6,200 gain, or a 31% return. Over 3 years that’s about 9.4% a year (CAGR). The first holding alone contributed 25 of those 31 percentage points; the bonds added just 1.
Annualized return and the benchmark
A 31% total return means little without a timeframe. Enter how long you’ve held and the calculator gives the CAGR — the smoothed annual rate — which is what you compare against indices and other investments. Add a benchmark return (say an index fund’s) and it shows your alpha: how many percentage points you beat or trailed it by. Beating a low-cost index after costs is harder than it looks, so a small positive alpha is a genuinely good result; a negative one is a nudge to ask whether the extra effort is paying off.
What this does and doesn’t cover
This is a time-weighted snapshot: invested versus current value. If you added or withdrew cash partway through, your money-weighted return differs — use the XIRR calculator, which handles dated cash flows, for that. It also doesn’t compute volatility or a Sharpe ratio (those need a return series), or split realized from unrealized gains. Tax is a single flat estimate on the total gain. As always, it’s arithmetic on the figures you enter, not investment advice — and past return is no guide to the future.
— Reader questions
How do I calculate my portfolio return?
Add up what you invested across all holdings and what they’re worth now; the return is total gain ÷ total invested. It’s value-weighted, so each holding counts in proportion to its size — not a simple average of returns.
What is a holding’s contribution to return?
Its gain as a percentage of your total invested. These contributions add up exactly to the portfolio return, so they show which positions drove the result. A big holding with a modest return can contribute more than a small one that soared.
What is CAGR and how is it different from total return?
CAGR is the annualized (smoothed yearly) rate. A 31% total return over 3 years is about 9.4% a year. CAGR lets you compare investments held for different lengths of time.
What is alpha?
How much your return beat or trailed a benchmark. If your portfolio returned 9.4% annualized and the benchmark did 8%, your alpha is +1.4 points. Consistently positive alpha after costs is genuinely hard to achieve.
Does this handle deposits and withdrawals?
No — it’s a time-weighted snapshot of invested vs current value. If you added or took out money during the period, your money-weighted return differs; use the XIRR calculator for dated cash flows.