Here's who could be next to split their stock after Chipotle

Published Wed, Mar 20 20242:48 PM EDTUpdated Wed, Mar 20 20243:30 PM EDT

Investors are watching for which company could be next after Chipotle announced Tuesday it will split its stock 50-shares-for-1 in June. Shares of the restaurant chain were more than 5% higher on Wednesday on the heels of the news. Some stocks that have announced splits in their shares have typically performed well in the months after the move, including Amazon, which added roughly 4% in the three months after its 2022 announcement. Splitting a stock is simply an effort to make a company's shares more affordable. The value of the business doesn't change at all. For example, after a 2-for-1 stock, a holder of one share of a $20 stock now holds two shares of a $10 stock. Using the CNBC Pro Stock Screener tool , CNBC screened for companies with lofty share prices that could be next to split their stock. Interestingly, Chipotle floated to the surface of our screen even before the board's decision was made Tuesday. CNBC looked at the following criteria: Shares are priced above $500 each Stocks on the list have doubled the broad market's return over the past 12 months Shares are within 10% of their 52-week high Stocks are in the S & P 500 ( Click here to add this screener to your PRO stock screener tool . You can also further customize it yourself.) While stock splits don't change anything other the price per share and the number of shares outstanding, history shows a stock can get a temporary lift afterward from increased accessibility. For example, individual investors are better able to hold a round lot of 100 or 500 shares of a lower-priced stock than 1 or 5 shares of a higher priced stock. Chipmaker and top artificial intelligence play Nvidia made the cut, with shares having soared nearly 79% in 2024 alone. The stock is roughly 8% below from its 52-week high of $974 reached on March 8. NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia stock. Chief executive Jensen Huang told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday at its GTC Conference that the company would consider splitting its stock in the future. There is precedent for such as move, as Nvidia made a 4-to-1 split in July of 2021. "One of the things that I really like about stock splits is that it makes ... the stock purchase for our employees and others [easier]," Huang said. Dominant streaming platform Netflix has also split in the past, the most recent one being a 7-to-1 split in June of 2015. Shares have added nearly 28% in 2024, and are currently just 1% below what would be a fresh 52-week high. NFLX YTD mountain Netflix stock. JPMorgan reiterated a positive outlook on Netflix on Wednesday, adding that its well positioned to boost revenue growth. The stock is also only about 12% below its all-time high reached in November of 2021, the bank added. Other high-priced stocks on the list with a history of past stock splits include Eli Lilly and Lam Research .