Amazon’s stock is splitting—not in half, but in 20 bite-sized pieces to attract the attention of retail investors and Wall Street’s index makers. It’s the first time the stock has split in more than 20 years during which the company’s share price has risen 50-fold.
If approved by Amazon shareholders, the 20-to-1 stock split will drastically reduce the tech giant’s notoriously expensive share price. Today, one share of Amazon stock costs about $3,000. If the company’s shareholders approve the split, it will drop to about $150 a share. That should entice new retail investors, and perhaps even earn it a spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
News of the split and a new $10 billion stock buyback was announced in an 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on March 9. Amazon’s stock rose nearly 7% in after-hours trading.
