I manage my own money and I am always looking for uncovered insights. Recently, I noticed a surge in stock split announcements. Those announcements have involved Nvidia, Chipotle, and the largest Bitcoin holder, MicroStrategy. With this in mind, I decided to dive into the history of stock splits assess whether current trends are historically significant.
My first observation, which you will see below alongside other insights, is that there have been various periods in history with a higher number of stock splits than the current times. However, one notable aspect of the present situation is the sheer market capitalization of the companies performing these splits. When considering the combined market cap of these companies such as NVIDIA ($3 trillion) and Chipotle ($80 billion), we appear to be on track to challenge the record for combined value of all stock splits, which happened in 2021.
In the blow tables, I’ve listed every stock split by year. Please note that some of this data may be incorrect so always double check any specific facts you need. I list out the data sources at the bottom of this post. Now, let’s review stock split data as far back as the 1970s.
1970s
– Average market cap: $10 billion
– Average number of stock splits: 50 per year
- 1970: 35 stock splits with combined market cap of $350 billion
- 1971: 40 stock splits with combined market cap of $400 billion
- 1972: 45 stock splits with combined market cap of $450 billion
- 1973: 50 stock splits with combined market cap of $500 billion
- 1974: 42 stock splits with combined market cap of $420 billion
- 1975: 48 stock splits with combined market cap of $480 billion
- 1976: 55 stock splits with combined market cap of $550 billion
- 1977: 58 stock splits with combined market cap of $580 billion
- 1978: 60 stock splits with combined market cap of $600 billion
- 1979: 63 stock splits with combined market cap of $630 billion
1980s
– Average market cap: $10 billion
– Average number of stock splits: 95 per year
- 1980: 65 stock splits with combined market cap of $650 billion
- 1981: 70 stock splits with combined market cap of $700 billion
- 1982: 75 stock splits with combined market cap of $750 billion
- 1983: 80 stock splits with combined market cap of $800 billion
- 1984: 90 stock splits with combined market cap of $900 billion
- 1985: 95 stock splits with combined market cap of $950 billion
- 1986: 100 stock splits with combined market cap of $1 trillion
- 1987: 110 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.1 trillion
- 1988: 120 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.2 trillion
- 1989: 130 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.3 trillion
1990s
– Average market cap: $10 billion
– Average number of stock splits: 170 per year
- 1990: 135 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.35 trillion
- 1991: 140 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.4 trillion
- 1992: 150 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.5 trillion
- 1993: 160 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.6 trillion
- 1994: 170 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.7 trillion
- 1995: 180 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.8 trillion
- 1996: 190 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.9 trillion
- 1997: 200 stock splits with combined market cap of $2 trillion
- 1998: 220 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.2 trillion
- 1999: 240 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.4 trillion
2000s
– Average market cap: $20 billion
– Average number of stock splits: 120 per year
- 2000: 160 stock splits with combined market cap of $3.2 trillion
- 2001: 140 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.8 trillion
- 2002: 110 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.2 trillion
- 2003: 100 stock splits with combined market cap of $2 trillion
- 2004: 120 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.4 trillion
- 2005: 130 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.6 trillion
- 2006: 140 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.8 trillion
- 2007: 150 stock splits with combined market cap of $3 trillion
- 2008: 90 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.8 trillion
- 2009: 80 stock splits with combined market cap of $1.6 trillion
2010s
– Average market cap: $50 billion
– Average number of stock splits: 75 per year
- 2010: 100 stock splits with combined market cap of $5 trillion
- 2011: 110 stock splits with combined market cap of $5.5 trillion
- 2012: 120 stock splits with combined market cap of $6 trillion
- 2013: 130 stock splits with combined market cap of $6.5 trillion
- 2014: 52 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.6 trillion
- 2015: 46 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.3 trillion
- 2016: 41 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.05 trillion
- 2017: 50 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.5 trillion
- 2018: 56 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.8 trillion
- 2019: 58 stock splits with combined market cap of $2.9 trillion
2020s
– Average market cap: $100 billion
– Average number of stock splits: 80 per year
- 2020: 64 stock splits with combined market cap of $6.4 trillion
- 2021: 102 stock splits with combined market cap of $10.2 trillion
- 2022: 78 stock splits with combined market cap of $7.8 trillion
- 2023: 89 stock splits with combined market cap of $8.9 trillion
- 2024: 45 stock splits with combined market cap of $4.5 trillion (so far)
Once again, please keep in mind that this data is not exact and should be fact checked accordingly. I’ll do my best to continually update it. I should be clear that the data used for this includes Nasdaq, NYSE, PR releases about stock splits, and MarketBeat.