Win rate is the proportion of completed trades classified as profitable under the reporting method. A strategy with 60 winning trades out of 100 completed trades has a 60% win rate. The treatment of break-even trades and costs should be stated.
What win rate does—and does not—measure
Win rate counts outcomes. It does not tell you how large the wins or losses were, how much capital each trade used, or how the trades were grouped. Those omissions are why a higher win rate does not necessarily mean a higher return.
A strategy that earns $10 on most winners but loses $100 on occasional losers can have an appealing win rate and a negative overall result. The size of each outcome matters.
Check how a trade is counted
A strategy may enter or exit in several parts. If each partial fill is counted independently, the reported number of wins can differ from a method that groups the full position as one trade. Comparing percentages without matching those definitions can be misleading.
A larger sample also provides more information than a handful of trades, although quantity alone does not make the sample representative.
For evaluating an AlphaNet strategy, win rate is one descriptive statistic. Average win, average loss, drawdown, exposure and net returns are needed to understand the economics behind the percentage.