what is a stock split 
a stock split happens when a company increases the number of its shares to boost the stock s liquidity although the number of shares outstanding increases by a specific multiple the total dollar value of all shares outstanding remains the same because a split does not fundamentally change the company s value the most common split ratios are 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 sometimes denoted as 2 1 or 3 1 this means for every share held before the split each stockholder will have two or three shares respectively after the split 