(Reuters) – Tesla Inc on Tuesday announced a five-for-one stock split, sending the electric carmaker’s recently high-flying shares up 7% in extended trade.
Tesla’s stock, which traded at $1,475 after the announcement, is among the highest priced on Wall Street, and the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a press release it was looking to make its shares more accessible to employees and investors.
Tesla’s stock has surged over 200% this year, while shares of General Motors and Ford Motor declined on fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Stock splits are a way for companies to make shares more accessible to retail investors, potentially attracting individual investors who make small trades. However, brokerages increasingly let customers buy parts of shares, making the benefit of share splits less clear than in the past.
Tesla said stock holders of record on Aug. 21 would receive four additional shares after the close of trading on Aug. 28, with the stock trading on a split-adjusted basis beginning Aug. 31.
