I have two general answers to this. If you're trading: sell when it hits your target price. If you're long term: sell when the thesis changes or you find a significantly better investment and need the money. Answer from creemeeseason on reddit.com
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Bankrate
bankrate.com › investing
How To Know When To Sell A Stock For A Profit — Or A Loss | Bankrate
September 23, 2025 - Some of the world’s most successful companies are able to compound investors’ capital for decades, and those who sell too soon end up missing out on years of future gains. Companies such as Walmart, Microsoft and countless others have earned early investors many times their money. Don’t sell just because you’re sitting on a profit. On the other hand, just because a stock has declined is no reason to sell, either.
People also ask

How much profit do I need before I sell a stock?
There’s no exact science or answer to determine how much of a return you’d need to see before you sell a stock. That’s up to the specific investor, and there may be times when you actually generate a negative return when selling a stock.
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sofi.com
sofi.com › learn › content › when-to-sell-a-stock
How to Know When to Sell a Stock | SoFi
How can you tell when to sell a stock?
There’s no exact science, and determining whether it’s a good time to sell a stock will come down to the individual investor’s preference, risk tolerance, and time horizon. However, you can also keep an eye on a stock’s valuation, consider your opportunity costs, and weigh other factors in order to make a decision.
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sofi.com
sofi.com › learn › content › when-to-sell-a-stock
How to Know When to Sell a Stock | SoFi
Should you ever sell stocks when they’re down?
You can sell stocks when they lose value for any number of reasons, but it’s likely best practice to make sure you’re doing so as a part of an overall investing strategy, e.g. tax-loss harvesting, and not simply because you’re making an emotional or irrational decision based on current market conditions.
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sofi.com
sofi.com › learn › content › when-to-sell-a-stock
How to Know When to Sell a Stock | SoFi
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Merrill
ml.com › articles › when-to-sell-investments.html
Reasons to Sell a Stock (And Reasons to Hold)
July 1, 2024 - If changes in market levels mean that stocks now make up 70% of your portfolio instead of the 60% you targeted, you’ll need to sell some of your stocks or stock funds to restore the balance.
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Public
public.com › home › learn › how to know when to take profits
How to know when to sell your stocks? Easy way to calculate gains - Public.com
January 5, 2025 - For example, you may sell a position when it profits 20% to 25%. Once you reach this number, sell some or all of the position, or reevaluate your goals. On the other end, a “stop loss” helps minimize losses in a sharp downturn.
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The Motley Fool
fool.com › investing › how-to-invest › stocks › when-to-sell-stocks
When to Sell Stocks: 5 Reasons to Sell a Stock | The Motley Fool
May 14, 2025 - Having earned a profit from an investment can further justify selling the stock to pay for a major purchase, your living expenses in retirement, or as part of your portfolio allocation strategy.
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Investopedia
investopedia.com › articles › stocks › 07 › when_to_sell.asp
Your Investments: When To Sell and When To Hold
July 8, 2025 - You might need to sell a stock if other prospects can earn a higher return. If an investor holds onto an underperforming stock or is lagging the overall market, it may be time to sell that stock and put the money toward another investment.
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Investopedia
investopedia.com › articles › stocks › 10 › when-to-sell-stocks.asp
6 Reasons to Sell a Stock
September 16, 2025 - She is the CEO of Xaris Financial ... for Cornell University. ... Investing vs. Trading ... Stocks vs. ETFs · Mutual Funds vs. Stocks · ETFs vs. Mutual Funds ... Making money on the stock market involves two decisions: when to buy and when to sell the stock. Sell too early and you risk leaving gains on the table. Sell too late and your profits could ...
Find elsewhere
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TSI Network
tsinetwork.ca › daily-advice › how-to-invest › stock-market-rules-of-thumb-four-year-rule-sell-half-rule
Stock Market Rules of Thumb: Four-Year Rule & Sell-Half Rule - The Successful Investor Inc
December 4, 2025 - In fact, the unpleasant necessities of the first half of the term may be paying dividends by that time. The sell-half rule is one of the most useful stock selling rules for more aggressive investments. Selling half of hot stocks that surge helps ...
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FortuneBuilders
fortunebuilders.com › p › when-to-sell-stocks
When To Sell Stocks: The 10 Best Times To Start Selling
December 12, 2024 - Experienced investors are successful because they know how to set their emotions aside. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to set up a price target. Once you hit that target, it’s the best time to sell your stock no matter what. That way, you’ll lock in a solid profit.
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SoFi
sofi.com › learn › content › when-to-sell-a-stock
How to Know When to Sell a Stock | SoFi
September 2, 2025 - Knowing when to sell a stock is a complex enterprise, even for the most sophisticated investors. In a perfect world you’d sell a stock when you’d made a profit and wanted to capture the gains.
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VectorVest
vectorvest.com › home › when to sell stocks to capture profits and avoid losses: introducing stop prices
When to Sell Stocks to Capture Profits and Avoid Losses: Introducing Stop Prices - VectorVest
November 26, 2024 - Profits from selling stocks are taxable, and understanding how these taxes work and affect your net returns is crucial. Timing your exit just right to optimize tax outcomes adds another layer of complexity to the process – just as taxes on options trading does. Then, there’s the question of reinvesting the proceeds from your sale. It’s not enough to just sell a stock – you need to have a plan for what you’re going to do with the money you’ve just freed up.
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Canadianmoneysaver
canadianmoneysaver.ca › articles › 3764
Knowing When To Sell A Stock - Canadian MoneySaver
May 1, 2024 - Focus on the fundamentals. If earnings are growing or accelerating, the stock price should follow. It may not be today, but stock prices will—most of the time—follow the fundamentals. Stocks that have risen a lot will sometimes fall on earnings releases simply because of profit-taking.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/fidelityinvestments › when do you sell a stock?
r/fidelityinvestments on Reddit: When do you sell a stock?
February 26, 2025 -

I recently read Joel Greenblatt's "The little book that beats the market" where the author draws on Graham's value investing principles to purchase stocks of good companies that are undervalued. He developed a step-by-step process on how to purchase shares of 20-30 undervalued companies for a year and selling winners after holding them a few days more than one year and losers after holding them a few days less than one year (keeping in mind the capital gain cuts). It got me thinking about my portfolio and my question resulting from that was, if a stock is doing well and the company prospects are solid, should you still sell the stock? More generally, if the goal is long term investing (like Apple for example with a strong balance sheet and a solid market position and brand value), how long does it make sense to hold a stock before selling it?

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Charles Schwab
schwab.com › learn › story › 4-reasons-to-sell-your-losers
4 Reasons to Sell Your Losers | Charles Schwab
If you don't have investment gains to offset, or if you realize more losses than gains, you can use up to $3,000 in losses to reduce your ordinary income this year—and every year thereafter—until the entire loss is accounted for. There's an adage among traders: Let your winners run. If you don't want to sell your winners prematurely, it might make more sense to generate the necessary income by selling your losers—which may allow you to offset up to $3,000 a year in ordinary income in the process.
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Trading 212
trading212.com › learn › investing-101 › when-should-you-sell-a-stock
When should you sell a stock?
November 20, 2024 - When is the best time to buy and sell stocks? Buffett’s best time to buy a stock. How to know when you should sell a stock: Sell when a better opportunity arises.
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My Own Advisor
myownadvisor.ca › follow this personal finance blogger on his journey to financial independence. › when should you sell your stocks?
When should you sell your stocks? - My Own Advisor
December 3, 2024 - In a perfect investing world, maybe you don’t ever sell any stocks. You could make a case in your asset accumulation years that a pure index investor just keeps buying for decades on end since the best price is the market price of the day. That said, there are certainly other (successful) ways to invest and your mix of stocks, bonds and real estate can matter to your overall returns…
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Cabot Wealth Network
cabotwealth.com › daily › stock-market › when-to-sell-a-winning-stock
When to Take Profits on Your Winning Stocks - Cabot Wealth Network
1 month ago - This is not a common sell discipline, but it’s a discipline (important) and it’s simple and easy to follow. And it works for Neil MacNeale, the editor of 2 for 1 Stock Split Newsletter. MacNeale’s investing strategy is based on research (the Ikenberry/Rankine study) showing that stocks enjoy two to three years of outperformance after undergoing a two-for-one split. So, with some flexibility built in for profit-taking, he holds each of his picks for two and a half years—30 months—and then sells it.
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Groww
groww.in › home › blog › stocks › how long should you hold a stock?
How Long Should you Hold a Stock - When to Sell a Stock
Warren Buffet once said: “If you ... by stock market trader. In normal market conditions, booking profits when unrealized gains are more than 20-25% is considered a winning bet....
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I Will Teach You To Be Rich
iwillteachyoutoberich.com › home › blog › personal finance › when to sell stocks: the only 5 reasons to sell (ever)
When to Sell Stocks: The ONLY 5 Reasons To Sell (EVER)
April 28, 2025 - Similarly, if the earnings expectation ... of these cases, you might want to consider selling and cashing in the profits before the value crashes....
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Chase
chase.com › personal › investments › learning-and-insights › article › when-should-i-sell-stocks
When Should I Sell Stocks? | Chase
August 14, 2025 - There are instances where selling a stock might make sense. Learn more about how to spot them here.