Meta Hasn't Split Its Stock Since Its IPO. Would a Stock Split Get It Into the Dow?

One share of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) costs about $721 as of this writing.

No other Magnificent Seven stock comes close. Meta's shares cost around 40% more than those of Microsoft, the next-priced member of the group, and over three times as much as Nvidia's.

Meta is also the only one in the group that hasn't split its stock since it went public in 2012, even while shares rose to a record close of $790 in August 2025.

This might leave some investors wondering if a split is next, especially because Amazon and Nvidia both split their shares before joining the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI).

But Meta hasn't said anything to signal a split is coming. And I think the Dow case for one is weaker than it looks.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Would a split change anything?

Not what the company is worth. A split just slices every share into more pieces.

A 10-for-1 split at today's price would turn one $721 share into 10 shares worth around $72 apiece. Meta's second-quarter earnings per share of $6.18 would become about $0.62, and the stock would still trade at about 21 times forward earnings.

Companies often frame splits as a way to make shares easier to own. Nvidia said its 2024 split was meant to make stock ownership more accessible to employees and investors.

The closest Meta has come was a 2016 plan, approved by shareholders, to pay a dividend of two new nonvoting Class C shares for every existing share. This would have tripled the share count, much as a 3-for-1 split does. But the board scrapped the plan in September 2017.

Price isn't what's keeping Meta out of the Dow

The Dow is price-weighted, so a company's impact on the index hinges on its share price rather than its size. After all, a 1% move in a $900 stock shifts the index as much as a 10% move in a $90 stock. So it's no wonder that high-priced tech stocks have often split before joining.

Amazon's shares closed at $2,785.58 the day it announced a 20-for-1 split in March 2022, and the company joined the Dow in February 2024. Nvidia closed at $949.50 the day it announced its 10-for-1 split in May 2024, and it joined that November. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which split its stock 20-for-1 in 2022, followed in June of this year.

But Meta's share price isn't out of line with the Dow today. Goldman Sachs trades at around $917 and Caterpillar at about $812, and both are already Dow members.

By my math, Meta at today's price would make up about 8% of the index if it replaced the lowest-priced member -- the third-largest weight, after those two. A 10-for-1 split, though, would probably lower Meta's weight to below 1%.

Sure, a weight that small can be an issue too. When the index provider, S&P Dow Jones Indices, dropped Verizon Communications in June, it noted that Verizon made up only around half a percentage point of the index because of its low stock price.

Alphabet might have taken Meta's seat

The bigger hurdle is probably that the Dow just filled the slot Meta would most naturally take. When it added Alphabet to replace Verizon, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Alphabet would make a more representative communication services member of the index. Meta is in the same sector.

With Alphabet joining Nvidia, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft in the index, Meta and Tesla are now the only Magnificent Seven stocks left out.

Meanwhile, Meta's value still comes from its advertising business, where pricing has been getting stronger. Showing how much advertisers are willing to pay, Meta's average price per ad climbed 12% year over year in the second quarter. That matched the first quarter's rate and doubled the 6% gain Meta reported for the last three months of 2025. Ad impressions, however, grew 14% in the second quarter, down from 19% growth in the previous quarter. So more of the growth is now coming from pricing. Together, the two raised second-quarter revenue 28% year over year to $60.8 billion.

Is Meta likely to split its stock soon?

I doubt it, and I don't think the Dow is a strong reason for one. At around 21 times forward earnings, the stock looks reasonably priced to me for a company growing so fast. A split wouldn't change that valuation.

Daniel Sparks and his clients have positions in Apple. Daniel Sparks has clients with positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, Goldman Sachs Group, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.