There were many well-known and highly anticipated stock splits in 2024. Popular restaurant operator Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) shares were trading at an astronomical $3,400 a share before they executed their first-ever 50-to-1 stock split on June 25, 2024. This opened up the doors for numerous new investors who were unable to afford shares in their favorite fast casual restaurant. Artificial intelligence (AI) chip leader NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) executed a 10-for-1 stock split, enabling small investors to gain directly from the AI boom on June 7, 2024. Custom AI accelerator chips producer Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) executed a 10-for-1 stock split on July 15, 2024.   

While companies execute stock splits for a number of reasons, usually, it's to make their stock available to a wider audience of investors, thereby improving sentiment. When a stock is trading above $1,000, it severely limits the type and number of shareholders it can attract. Small investors are locked out of participating in the success of these beloved companies. An announcement of a stock split often causes the underlying stock to surge higher in anticipation of more investors taking positions. It also bolsters a stock's liquidity. When stocks rise through $1,000 per share, the bid and ask spreads can be as wide as several points, leading to a lot of slippage. Stock splits ensure tighter price spreads, resulting in less slippage when executing trade orders.

After the stock split is executed, share can continue to move higher, thereby compounding the underlying gains for pre-split owners like in the case of the consumer discretionary sector giant Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT). The nation’s largest importer and the world’s largest employer issued a 3-for-1 stock split that priced shares around $58.18 on Feb. 26, 2024. Since then, the stock has climbed to $85.79 as of November 13, 2024. This was Walmart’s 10th stock split. An investor who purchased just one share of Walmart in 1975 would have 1,536 shares today as a result of all the stock splits.

As we look ahead to 2025, similar trends could unfold as several high-performing stocks continue their upward momentum. Here are three stocks whose substantial appreciation makes them prime candidates for stock splits, offering new and existing investors opportunities to benefit from increased accessibility and liquidity.

1. Netflix: Dominating Video Streaming 

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) pioneered the video streaming revolution. The company originally launched in 1997 as a mail-order DVD service. By 1999, they adopted a subscription model allowing customers to rent unlimited DVDs by mail for a flat fee and no late fees—instrumental in putting Blockbuster Video out of business. By 2007, Netflix introduced streaming services to its customers enabling them to watch a limited library of movies over the internet. Buffering times and slow internet speeds initially made it hard to watch videos, but as internet speeds accelerated, streaming video became a popular trend.

Netflix executed its first stock split (2-for-1) in 2004 when its shares reached $72, and its second split (7-for-1) in 2015 when shares reached a lofty $700. The company has continued to grow its market share to become the world's most dominant video streaming service, with over 282.7 million paid subscribers recharged by its adoption of a cheaper ad-support subscription tier. Netflix stock is trading up 69% year-to-date (YTD), recently peaking at an all-time high of $841 on Nov. 14, 2024. Netflix may execute its third stock split in 2025 if the stock stays elevated or even breaches the $1,000 price level.

2. ASML Holding: Dominating the EUV Market

When semiconductor companies need to produce advanced computer chips on smaller nodes, they need special photolithography machines to imprint microscopic circuit patterns onto a silicon wafer. Netherlands-based ASML Holding N.A. (NASDAQ: ASML) has a near monopoly in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography space. Their systems are used by major semiconductor manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd (NYSE: TSM) to produce AI chips for NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD).

ASML has had five stock splits in the past, two of which were unconventional. ASML executed a 2-for-1 stock split in May 1997 and another in May 1998. Then in April 2000, the company executed a 3-for-1 stock split. ASML implemented an 8-for-9 reverse stock split in October of 2007 and a 77-for-100 reverse split with a cash component in November 2012. The stock surged from $56 to a peak of $1,110.09 in July 2024 but has since declined by 40%, dropping to $658.63 as of Nov. 15, 2024.

ASML has noted that outside of AI, the semiconductor industry is still trying to normalize. The return of the Trump administration and potential ramifications on its China business could impact whether or not ASML decides to issue another stock split. Time will tell.

3. ServiceNow: Dominating the Cloud and AI-Powered Digital Transformation

Leading cloud-based digital workflow platform provider ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) has seen its stock surge over 3,000%—from its $18 IPO on June 29, 2012 to an all-time high of $1,061.66 on Nov. 13, 2024. The company has been riding the cloud computing trend from early on and continues to stay on the cutting edge of digital transformation. ServiceNow recently released its AI agents, which are customizable AI-powered autonomous software programs designed to perform tasks to achieve specific goals. ServiceNow stock is trading up 43% YTD, and the company has never had or announced the intention of having a stock split, leaving investors wondering when—or if—the first split will occur.

As shares continue to rise, there may be more pressure on the enterprise platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider to consider implementing a stock split. ServiceNow continues to grow stronger, evidenced by the 27-cent EPS beat and 22.2% YoY revenue growth to $2.75 billion in its Q3 2024 release.