Should Investors Care at All When a Stock Splits?
The summer of 2022 could be known as the Summer of Stock Splits, as several high-profile companies have either split their stock or announced their intention to split. Google’s parent company Alphabet is the latest, as it split its stock price by a 20-to-1 margin on July 18th – a move that reduced its share price from over $2,200 to about $110. Other big-name companies jumping on the stock-split bandwagon include Tesla, GameStop, Shopify, Nintendo, Kinetic Holdings, and Amazon. Amazon went through a similar 20-to-1 stock split, so its stock now trades around $115/share, down from above $2,000.
Ask Yourself: Why Does it Matter?
Alphabet (Google), Amazon, or any of the other big-name companies won’t be worth more post-split – their market capitalizations do not change at all. Companies say they are splitting their stock as a publicity tactic because it makes their shares more inviting to retail shareholders. Another reason for the decision is that a stock split might increase the odds of a company’s integration into the prestigious, 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average.
You may not know that the DJIA weighs by price versus other indices like the S&P 500 that weighs by market value. If the DJIA included stock with a crazy high price, that would heavily skew the DJIA’s performance. ?The DJIA added Apple in 2015 – but only after its 7-to-1 stock split in 2014.
Reverse Stock Splits are a Thing Too
You might not know it, but in July 2022 alone, 19 companies set to split their stock price. Interestingly, only 3 of the 19 are splitting their stock (Alphabet, GameStop, and Salisbury Bancorp). The other 16 are doing what’s called a reverse stock split. Take Enveric Biosciences, for example. Enveric is doing a reverse stock split at a ratio of 1-to-50, which means if you owned 50 shares of Enveric on July 15th, you now own one share.
Why It Doesn’t Really Matter
When you hear of a company splitting its stock, remember the famous words of Hall of Famer Yogi Berra when he said, “You better cut my pizza into four slices because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.” The pizza is still worth the same, whether you cut it into 4, 6, 20, or 2 slices. Thanks, Yogi.
