If You Bought 1 Share of Walmart at Its IPO, Here's How Many Shares You'd Own Now
Investors continue to gravitate to influential businesses conducting stock splits.
Since its October 1970 initial public offering (IPO), Walmart has effected a dozen forward splits.
Walmart has a shopping cart full of competitive edges, including its size and willingness to lean on innovation.
10 stocks we like better than Walmart ›
For years, stock splits have been one of the most exciting trends on Wall Street.
A stock split is a tool public companies have available that allows them to adjust their share price and outstanding share count by the same factor. These changes are surface-scratching in that they don't impact a company's market cap or operating performance.
Businesses completing forward stock splits (designed to reduce a company's share price to make it more nominally affordable for everyday investors) have a knack for outperforming -- which is something the shareholders of retail goliath Walmart (NYSE: WMT) know all too well.
Walmart's stock-split history is a marvel
Walmart's initial public offering (IPO) occurred on Oct. 1, 1970, with the company pricing its shares at $16.50. In the nearly 55 years since its IPO, this retail colossus has completed 12 forward splits:
May 1971: 2-for-1 stock split
March 1972: 2-for-1
August 1975: 2-for-1
November 1980: 2-for-1
June 1982: 2-for-1
June 1983: 2-for-1
September 1985: 2-for-1
June 1987: 2-for-1
June 1990: 2-for-1
February 1993: 2-for-1
March 1999: 2-for-1
February 2024: 3-for-1
If you had spent $16.50 to purchase one share of Walmart at its IPO, you'd now have 6,144 shares worth $586,076, not including dividends. Not too shabby!
Walmart's competitive edge is on full display
One of the reasons Walmart is so dominant is its size. Being able to buy products in bulk reduces its per-unit cost and allows it to undercut local retailers and even some national grocery chains on price. It offers a value proposition that few retailers can match.
In addition to its sheer size, Walmart is leaning on innovation and digitization to drive gains. Relying on automation and artificial intelligence -optimized supply chains, along with building out its high-margin Walmart+ subscription service, have the needle pointing higher.
With a 52-year streak (and counting) of dividend increases in its sails, Walmart shows no signs of slowing down.
Should you invest $1,000 in Walmart right now?
Before you buy stock in Walmart, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Walmart wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,056,790!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025
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