High-quality companies tend to create tremendous amounts of value, which sometimes drives their per-share price into the hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars. It can be too expensive for small investors to buy in at that price point (unless they use a broker that offers fractional shares), which leaves institutional investors and large funds holding a dominant piece of the pie.
A stock split can ease that problem by increasing the amount of shares in circulation while, at the same time, organically reducing the price per share. Stock splits are entirely cosmetic and don't change the value of the underlying company, but they make the stock more accessible to smaller retail investors.
Stock splits were popular in 2024
Several high-profile companies executed stock splits this year:
- Nvidia completed a 10-for-1 stock split on June 10, which increased the number of shares in circulation tenfold and reduced its price per share from $1,200 to $120.
- Chipotle completed a 50-for-1 stock split on June 26, which reduced its price per share from $3,283 to $66.
- Broadcom completed a 10-for-1 stock split on July 12, which reduced its price per share from $1,700 to $170.
A new year is right around the corner and that has some analysts prognosticating on who might execute stock splits in 2025. I think Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT) and Meta Platforms(NASDAQ: META) could find their way onto the list. Out of the six technology companies with valuations of $1 trillion or more, those two have the highest per-share prices.
They could get even more pricey as they expand their presence in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Here's why they could each benefit from a split.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Microsoft: A potential 3-for-1 stock split in 2025
Microsoft has completed nine splits since its stock came public in 1986. The company has created a staggering $3 trillion in value for investors over the last 38 years, and if it had completed no splits, its stock would be trading at $119,500 today!
Microsoft's most recent split was more than two decades ago in 2003. The company's stock is trading at $415 as of this writing, so it might be due for another in the near future -- especially because of the potential value the company stands to create thanks to its investments in AI.
Microsoft is a key investor in ChatGPT creator OpenAI and has used the start-up's technology to create the Copilot virtual assistant, which is embedded for free in its flagship software products like Windows, Bing, and Edge. However, users of 365 productivity applications -- like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- can also add Copilot to their plans for an additional monthly subscription fee.
Copilot can accelerate workflows in 365 by rapidly generating text and image content and also answer complex questions on a range of topics. Organizations around the world pay for 365 software licenses (more than 400 million at the moment), all of which are candidates for the Copilot add-on, so this could be a huge financial opportunity for Microsoft.
Then there's Microsoft Azure, which is one of the largest providers of cloud services in the world. It's a go-to destination for developers seeking state-of-the-art computing infrastructure and ready-made large language models (LLMs), like OpenAI's latest o1 series, which are the key ingredients for creating powerful AI software applications.
Azure revenue jumped by 33% year over year in the recent fiscal 2025 first quarter ended Sept. 30, and 12 percentage points of that growth specifically came from AI services. That was up from 8 points in the prior quarter just three months earlier, and the figure has accelerated in every single quarter since Microsoft started reporting it more than a year ago. This business could be a key source of stock-price appreciation in the years ahead.
If Microsoft executes a 3-for-1 split, its stock will come down to $138 per share, which would make it more accessible for smaller investors. It would also place it in line with other trillion-dollar tech giants like Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple, which have stock prices of between $100 and $250.
2. Meta Platforms: A potential 10-for-1 stock split in 2025
Meta Platforms has never done a stock split, but I think there could be one in the near future. The company came public in 2012 at a price of $38 per share but has soared to $554 since then, which is the highest price tag of any tech stock in the trillion-dollar club.
Meta is the parent company of social networks Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which serve almost 3.3 billion people around the world every single day. The company generates most of its revenue from selling advertising slots to businesses, so the longer each user spends on the company's platforms, the more ads they'll see and the more money Meta will make.
The company is increasing engagement by using AI algorithms to learn what each user likes to see so it can curate their content feeds to maintain their attention. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says this strategy led to an 8% increase in the amount of time each user spent on Facebook so far this year and a 6% increase for Instagram.
Releasing new features also helps to boost engagement. Meta launched an AI-powered virtual assistant called Meta AI last year, which users can access through each of the company's social apps. It can generate text and images and even join your group chat to settle debates with friends or offer suggestions for fun activities. Meta AI had amassed 500 million monthly active users as of the third quarter of 2024 (ended Sept. 30), so it's on its way to becoming one of the company's most popular products.
Meta AI is powered by Llama, an LLM that Meta built in-house. The company is on track to invest up to $40 billion in data center infrastructure this year, which will provide enough computing power to launch Llama 4 in 2025. It will be Meta's most powerful LLM so far, and Zuckerberg says it has the potential to lead the entire industry.
Meta stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 21.9, based on Wall Street's consensus forecast for the company's 2025 earnings per share. That means the stock would have to soar by 71% next year just to trade in line with its 10-year average P/E ratio of 37.5, which implies a stock price of $947.
I think Meta should consider a split right now, but a 10-for-1 split might be a no-brainer decision if the stock approaches four figures next year.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short December 2024 $54 puts on Chipotle Mexican Grill, and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
