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US stock return in GBP

Your broker shows a US share up 10%, but you invest in pounds. What you really made depends on the exchange rate when you bought, the rate when you sold, and the fees on both conversions. Enter your trade to see the return you actually banked.

$
$
Dollars per pound, e.g. 1.27
£
%
Defaults are ii's published rates as of 2026 — change them for another broker.
Return in dollars+10.00%
Return in pounds, before fees+1.85%
From the share price+£80.00
From the exchange rate-£65.19
Fees (commission + FX, both ways)-£20.09
Real profit in pounds-£5.28
Real return in pounds-0.65%
Paid in (incl. fees)£809.99
Received (after fees)£804.71

The share moved +10.00% in dollars; in pounds you lost £5.28 (-0.65%): the exchange rate cost you £65.19 and fees took £20.09.

Why your GBP return differs from the USD return

A US share is priced in dollars, so holding it is two bets at once: one on the company and one on the dollar. If the pound strengthens while you hold (GBP/USD goes up, say from 1.25 to 1.35), each dollar you sell for buys fewer pounds, and part of your gain disappears. If the pound weakens, the currency move adds to your return.

Fees come on top. At ii's 2026 rates you pay £3.99 to buy and £3.99 to sell, plus about 0.75% on each conversion. The calculator splits the result into the share-price move (valued at the rate you bought at), the currency move, and the fees; the three add up to your real profit.

With the defaults, a 10% gain in dollars turns into a small loss in pounds. That is not a contrived case: GBP/USD moved by more than that between 2024 and 2025.

Stop doing this by hand. Headmars tracks your holdings across exchanges in pounds, with the fees on every trade recorded, so the return you see is the return you actually got.

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More calculators: ii FX fee calculator · Stop-loss after fees