Although the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has been the hottest trend in decades on Wall Street, it’s not the only catalyst lifting the broader market. Investor euphoria for high-profile stock splits has also played an important role.
A stock split allows a public company to alter its share price and outstanding share count by the same factor without affecting its market cap or underlying operating performance. Within a span of just eight days, two historic AI stock splits were announced by Meta Platforms (META +1.44%) and Sandisk (SNDK -7.91%), which are set to undertake their first-ever forward splits, respectively.
Image source: Getty Images.
Meta Platforms’ first-ever split will be unorthodox
Until recently, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta was the only member of the “Magnificent Seven” that hadn’t split its stock. That changed with the company’s Oct. 21 quarterly report, which unveiled the creation of a new class of stock.
Current Class A shareholders will receive a one-for-one Class C (non-voting) stock dividend after the Jan. 19 effective date. The unorthodox choice to create an entirely new share class will effectively act as a 2-for-1 split of the company’s Class A shares. But with Meta stock oscillating between $500 and $750 for more than two years, something needed to be done to make its shares more accessible to retail investors who can’t purchase fractional shares through their broker.
META Meta Platforms
$630.00+$8.97 (+1.44%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 11/04/26
Although Meta generates the lion’s share of its revenue from advertising on its family apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, excitement is mounting regarding its AI ambitions.
Zuckerberg’s company is already integrating generative AI into its ad platforms, enabling clients to create personalized static and video messages to improve click-through rates. The benefit for Meta is improved ad-pricing power.
Meta also recently introduced Muse, its agentic personal AI tool that’s capable of multitasking on users’ behalf. With a strong foundation of profitability built atop its social media platforms, Meta appears to be firing on all cylinders.
Image source: Getty Images.
Memory behemoth Sandisk unveiled a mammoth forward split
Just eight days after Meta announced its first-ever stock split, NAND flash storage specialist Sandisk declared its first split since being spun off from Western Digital (WDC -6.77%) in February 2025.
With its shares skyrocketing more than 6,000% at one point since its public debut, perhaps it’s no surprise that Sandisk’s board of directors approved an aggressive 8-for-1 forward split. The company’s fiscal first-quarter report notes that its split, which becomes effective after the close of trading on Nov. 19, is designed to make its shares more accessible to retail investors and employees.
SNDK Sandisk
$1,037.40-$89.12 (-7.91%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 11/04/26
A split became necessary for Sandisk due to the overwhelming demand for memory and storage solutions in AI-accelerated data centers. This combination of strong demand and persistent supply shortages has afforded Sandisk otherworldly pricing power and pushed its gross margin to an almost unfathomable 85%.
Over the last 14 months, Sandisk’s 2027 projected earnings per share have jumped from less than $10 to nearly $228!
While Sandisk is a screaming bargain on paper, history shows that memory and storage products are highly cyclical, with premium pricing power rarely having any staying power. Though Sandisk has reduced its near-term risk by locking in orders more than a year in advance, the prospect of an AI bubble-bursting event still looms large.