Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks on Wednesday became the latest technology company to pull off a stock split this year. PANW stock joins Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon.com and Shopify amid a bear stock market.
In the first day of trading post-split, Palo Alto stock slipped 0.5% to close at 182.06 on the stock market today.
PANW stock had retreated just over 1% this year as of the market open on Wednesday. Palo Alto holds a Relative Strength Rating of 88 out of a best-possible 99.
Palo Alto announced its 3-for-1 stock split on Aug. 22.
Of course, earnings estimates for PANW stock get impacted.
"To reflect the 3-for-1 stock split, our fiscal 2023 EPS goes to $3.14 from $9.42 and our fiscal 2024 EPS estimate goes to $3.87 from $11.60," said Cowen analyst Shaul Eyal in a report.
Meanwhile, Google completed its 20-for-1 stock split after the market close on July 15. GOOGL stock has dropped more than 6% since. Overall, Google stock is down nearly 28% this year.
PANW Stock: Making Shares More Affordable
Amazon's 20-for-1 stock split took effect June 6. AMZN stock has advanced 3.5% since that date. But Amazon stock has dropped 24% in 2022.
Shopify completed a 10-for-1 stock on June 28. SHOP stock is down nearly 7% since the split. Further, Shopify stock has plunged 76% in this year amid the bear market in technology stocks.
In the long run, the splits of Palo Alto, Google, Amazon and Shopify stock are geared to make shares more affordable for retail investors.
According to Bank of America, companies that announce stock splits see their shares gain 25% one year after the announcement. That compares with the S&P 500's average gain of 9%. But those gains did not take place during bear markets.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
