Take-Profit Order
A limit order placed above a long entry (or below a short) to automatically lock in gains when a target price is reached.
A take-profit order is a standing limit order set at your price target. When the market reaches that level the order executes and the position closes, securing the profit without you having to monitor the screen.
Because it is a limit order, if it fills it fills at your target price or better — but unlike a market exit it is not guaranteed to fill at all: price can gap straight through the level, or there may be too little size there to complete the order (a partial fill).
Take-profit and stop-loss orders are typically placed together as a bracket order, defining both the upside target and the downside exit at order entry.
Example
Entry on XYZ at $50.00, take-profit at $54.00. The sell limit rests until the market rises and a buyer lifts the offer at $54.00, selling the position there and locking in $4.00 per share.
Related Terms
Bracket Order
A single entry order packaged with a take-profit and a stop-loss; when one exit fires, the other is automatically canceled.
BeginnerLimit Order
An order to buy or sell only at a specified price or better. Guarantees price but not execution.
BeginnerOne Cancels the Other (OCO)
A pair of orders where filling one automatically cancels the other — used to set simultaneous upside and downside exits.
BeginnerSell Limit
A limit order to sell at or above a specified price — placed above the current market to exit on strength or short into resistance.
BeginnerStop-Loss Order
A stop order placed to exit a position at a loss before it grows larger. The primary tool for managing downside risk.
BeginnerTrailing Stop
A stop-loss that automatically moves in your favor as price advances, locking in profit while capping downside.
Intermediate