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Stock split refers to a corporate action that increases the number of shares in a public company. The price of the shares are adjusted such that the before and after market capitalization of the company remains the same and dilution does not occur. Options and warrants are included.

For example, a company has 100 shares of stock each with a price of $50. The market capitalization is 100 × $50 = $5000. The company splits its stock "2-for-1". There are now 200 shares of stock and each shareholder holds twice as many shares. The price of each share has been adjusted to $25. The market capitalization is 200 × $25 = $5000, the same as before the split.

Ratios of 2-for-1, 3-for-1, and 3-for-2 splits are the most common but any ratio is possible. Splits of 4-for-3, 5-for-2, and 5-for-4 are not unheard of. Sometimes investors will receive cash payments in lieu of fractional shares.

It is often claimed that stock splits, in and of themselves, lead to higher stock prices; however, research does not bear this out. What is true is that stock splits are usually initiated after a large run up in share price. Momentum investing would suggest that such a trend would continue regardless of the stock split.

Other effects could be psychological. If many investors think that a stock split will result in an increased share price and therefore purchase the stock, the share price will tend to increase. Others contend that the management of a company, by initiating a stock split, is implicitly conveying its confidence in the future prospects of the company.

In a market where there is a high minimum number of shares, or a penalty for trading in so-called odd lots (a non multiple of some arbitrary number of shares), a reduced share price may attract more attention from small investors. Small investors such as these, however, will have negligible impact on the overall price.

Reverse stock split, or reverse split, is just the same but in reverse: a reduction in number of shares and an accompanying increase in the share price. The ratio is also reversed: 1-for-2, or 1-for-3.

There is a stigma attached to doing this so it is not initiated without very good reason. For example, many institutional investors or mutual funds have rules against purchasing a stock whose price is below some minimum, perhaps $5. An extreme case would be when a share price has dropped so low that it is in danger of being delisted from its stock exchange.

It is also possible that a reverse stock split could be used as a tactic to reduce the number of shareholders. In a hypothetical 1-for-100 reverse split any investor holding less than 100 shares would simply receive a cash payment and no shares of stock. If the resulting number of shareholders has then dropped below some threshold, it may be placed into a different regulatory category.

Typically, the stock will temporarily add a "D" to the end of its ticker during a reverse stock split.

• Share dividend
• Berkshire Hathaway, notable in that it never allows its shares to split

• Stock Split Calendar showing prices pre-split and post-split
• Profiting From Special Situations Like Stock Splits
• Stock split calendar for U.S. companies
• Stock split and reverse split examples for shareholders