Honestly, if you missed the boat on the 1986 IPO, you're not alone. Most of us did. But the people who caught it—and actually held on—aren't just sitting on a pile of money; they’re sitting on a massive multiplication of shares. Microsoft historical stock splits have turned a single original share into 288 shares over the decades. It’s kinda mind-blowing when you think about the math.
Imagine buying one share for $21 back in March '86. Today, that same investment wouldn't be worth the $460-ish sticker price you see on your ticker app. It would be worth way more because you’d own 288 times that amount. That’s the magic of the split. It doesn't actually change the value of the company, but it makes the stock feel "cheaper" and more accessible to the average person.
Microsoft was aggressive with this. They haven't touched the "split" button since 2003, but before that? They were hitting it almost every other year.
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The Nine Times Microsoft Decided to Split
Microsoft’s split history is basically a map of the tech boom. They went through nine splits in total. Most were simple "2-for-1" deals, where you wake up and suddenly have twice as many shares at half the price. But they also threw a couple of "3-for-2" curveballs in there during the early 90s.
The first one happened in September 1987. The stock had climbed to $114.50, which was pretty steep for the time. They did a 2-for-1 split, and suddenly it was back down to about $53.50. It was a classic move to keep the stock trading in a range that didn't scare off retail investors.
Then came the 90s. This was the era of Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and the absolute dominance of the PC. Microsoft split the stock in 1990 (2-for-1), 1991 (3-for-2), and 1992 (3-for-2). If you’re keeping track, that’s three years in a row of share multiplication.
By the time the dot-com bubble was inflating in the late 90s, they went back to the 2-for-1 format. They split in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 1999. It felt like the stock just wouldn't stop going up.
- September 21, 1987: 2-for-1
- April 16, 1990: 2-for-1
- June 27, 1991: 3-for-2
- June 15, 1992: 3-for-2
- May 23, 1994: 2-for-1
- December 9, 1996: 2-for-1
- February 23, 1998: 2-for-1
- March 29, 1999: 2-for-1
- February 18, 2003: 2-for-1
The 2003 Split: A Change in Strategy
The last time Microsoft ever split its stock was February 18, 2003. This one was different. Usually, companies split when the stock price gets near $100 or $150. But in early 2003, Microsoft was trading at only around $48.
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Why split then?
It was basically a PR move and a signal of maturity. At the same time they announced the split, they also announced their first-ever regular dividend. They wanted to make the stock look attractive to a wider range of investors, showing they weren't just a "growth" company anymore, but a stable powerhouse that could pay you to own it. Since then? Silence. No splits for over 20 years.
Why Microsoft Stopped Splitting
You’d think with the stock price soaring past $400 in 2026, they’d be itching to split again. But the world has changed.
Back in the 90s, you usually had to buy stocks in "round lots" of 100 shares. If a stock was $400, a single lot cost $40,000. That priced out almost everyone. Today, most brokers let you buy "fractional shares." You can literally put $5 into Microsoft and own 0.01 shares. The pressure to keep the nominal price low just isn't there like it used to be.
Also, Microsoft is a massive part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow is a price-weighted index. If Microsoft splits its stock 10-for-1 today, its "weight" in the index drops significantly. They lose influence. For a company that likes being the leader of the pack, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
The Math of Holding: 1 Share to 288 Shares
Let’s look at the "what if" scenario because it's fun and also a little painful. If you had one share before the first split in 1987, here is how it would have grown:
After the 1987 split, you had 2 shares.
By 1990, you had 4 shares.
The 1991 3-for-2 split turned those 4 into 6 shares.
The 1992 3-for-2 split turned those 6 into 9 shares.
The 1994 2-for-1 made it 18.
1996 made it 36.
1998 made it 72.
1999 made it 144.
And finally, the 2003 split brought the total to 288.
If you bought that one share at the IPO price of $21, and you're holding it in 2026 at a price of roughly $460, your $21 investment is now worth roughly **$132,480**. And that doesn’t even count the decades of dividends you’ve been collecting.
What Investors Get Wrong About Stock Splits
A lot of people think a split is like "free money." It's not.
Think of it like a pizza. If you have one giant slice and you cut it into two smaller slices, you still have the same amount of pizza. You just have more pieces. The market cap of Microsoft (total value) stays the same the moment a split happens.
However, splits usually happen because the company is doing well. They are a "bullish" signal. Management is essentially saying, "We think the stock is going to keep going up, so we need to make room." That’s why the stock often jumps when a split is announced—it’s the signal, not the math.
Is a 10th Split Coming?
The rumors never really stop. Every time Microsoft hits a new all-time high, people start whispering about a 10th split.
Honestly, it’s a toss-up. On one hand, competitors like Apple, Amazon, and Google (Alphabet) have all done big splits recently to keep their share prices in the double or triple digits instead of the quadruple digits. On the other hand, Microsoft seems perfectly happy with its current structure.
In late 2025, there was some talk that the board might discuss it at the annual meeting, but they stuck to dividends and buybacks instead. They seem more focused on returning value through cold, hard cash rather than share count gymnastics.
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Practical Steps for Your Portfolio
If you're looking at Microsoft historical stock splits and wondering what to do with your own shares, here are a few expert-level moves:
- Check your cost basis: If you’ve inherited shares or held them for a long time, the "split-adjusted" price is what matters. Your cost basis could be as low as $0.07 per share if you go all the way back to the IPO.
- Don't buy just for a split: Never buy a stock because you think it’s going to split. Buy it because you like the cloud business (Azure) or the AI integration. A split is just "financial engineering."
- Use fractional shares: Don't wait for a split to "afford" Microsoft. If you have $50, buy $50 worth. The percentage gain is the same whether you own 1 share or 0.1 shares.
- Monitor the Dow weighting: Keep an eye on how Microsoft’s price compares to other Dow components. If it becomes too large a percentage of the index, the pressure to split might actually come from the index managers, not just the company.
Microsoft's journey from a small software outfit to a multi-trillion dollar giant is written in its split history. While the era of rapid-fire splits seems to be over, the impact of those nine decisions remains the gold standard for long-term wealth creation. If you own the stock, the share count you see today is a direct legacy of those moves.