Amazon stock split history: what you require to know

Amazon has actually grown from a simple bookseller to among the largest and most prominent business on the planet. Discover Amazon's stock split history, and whether there will be another one in the future.

Amazon stock split history

When Amazon (AMZN) divides its stock, it is increasing the overall variety of shares in the business by dividing its current shares. In doing so, the variety of shares will increase however the price of those shares will decrease by the very same order of magnitude, which means that the market capitalisation of the business will stay the exact same.

The split ratio used by a company depends upon how high its share price has risen and just how much it wants the share price to fall by. A two-for-one split will halve the stock price, whereas a three-for-one split will lower it by two-thirds.

This being stated, stock divides can trigger a stock's price to increase in time. This is since they make shares more accessible to new investors by launching more shares into the market, which increases liquidity. As a result, demand can grow which will cause the share price to rise, together with the business's market capitalisation.

Amazon stock split example

As an example of an Amazon stock split-- or a stock split in general-- let's assume that a trader owned 200 shares of Amazon prior to 2 June 1998. As the table above shows, the split on 2 June 1998 was 2:1, which means that financiers would have been provided an additional share for each share they already owned. As a result, the financier would own 400 shares of Amazon after the split.

Before this very first stock split, Amazon's share price was $85.68 (on 1 June 1998), implying that each share was worth $42.84-- or exactly half-- instantly after the two-for-one split.1.

Amazon's split-adjusted share price

If you had purchased 100 shares of Amazon at its going public (IPO) price of $18 a share-- for a total of $1800-- and kept them all throughout the divides from June 1998 to September 1999, you would now have 1200 shares in Amazon.

Adjusted for a current appraisal of around $1900 a share, your initial $1800 investment would deserve approximately $2,300,000 at the time of writing.

Amazon's first stock split: 2 June 1998

Amazon's very first stock split took place on 2 June 1998, a little over a year after its 15 May 1997 IPO. The split was two-for-one and saw its share price cut in half. It closed at $85.68 the day prior to the split and opened at $43.62 on the day of the occasion. This was slightly more than half of the closing price due to out-of-hours trading.

A week after the split on 9 June 1998, Amazon closed at $51.24; a month later on 2 July 1998, it closed at $124.02.1 This sharp increase in the share price following the very first split is a sign of the increased daily trading volume of Amazon stock, which went from around 8 million systems at the start of June to anywhere between 28 million to 54 million at the start of July.

Amazon's second stock split: 5 January 1999

The second stock split was a three-for-one split and it happened on 5 January 1999. This saw share rates go from a close of $354.96 the day before the split to an open price of $109.56 on 5 January 1999. This was a little less than a third of the previous close price due to out-of-hours trading. Amazon closed at $138.00 the following day.1.

A month later, the e-commerce giant closed at a price of $115.88 on 5 February 1999-- a drop in price which was shown by a reduction in everyday trading volume of Amazon stock around this time.1.

Amazon's third stock split: 2 September 1999

Amazon's 3rd stock split was on 2 September 1999 and it was another two-for-one split. The split saw costs go from a 1 September close of $119.06 to a 2 September open of $57.50. This was somewhat less than half due to out-of-hours trading. The closing price on 2 September was $60.06, a moderate boost from the post-split open, reflecting the greater variety of stocks offered and increased purchaser interest.1.

A month later, on 1 October 1999, Amazon's share price had risen to $77.25.1.

Will Amazon stock split again?

There has actually been speculation over the last few years over whether Amazon will release another stock split. This speculation remains in the face of what has actually been an excellent growth curve in the Amazon share price, which some traders think is making Amazon stock inaccessible.

Nothing has been done to control the price of Amazon's stock given that the last split in September 1999. When asked in 2017 whether he would split the stock once again, Jeff Bezos-- Amazon's chief executive officer (CEO)-- stated that he would not rule it out, however that it was not impending. As a result, it remains to be seen whether the e-commerce giant will split its stock.

A possible factor for Amazon to carry out a future stock split would be if it wished to get a place on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This is because Amazon's high share price would have a disproportionate influence over the weighted index. One way for Amazon to fix this could be through a stock split, which would decrease its share price to a more proportionate figure in the market.

That being stated, only four of the world's ten biggest companies by market capitalisation are currently consisted of in the Dow Jones, so it might not be much of a motivator for a future Amazon stock split.

Amazon stock split summed up

• Amazon has had 3 stock divides in its history.

• They all happened within a 15-month amount of time, from 1998 to 1999.

• Because the last split, stock costs have mostly continued to increase.

• Jeff Bezos has not dismissed another split, however it currently looks unlikely.

• A possible motivator behind a future split could be if its share price rise to a level which would deter investors.