If you bought a share of Nvidia stock at the IPO, here’s how many shares you’d own now

You can’t make a list of the most successful stocks in history without including Nvidia (NVDA 4.35%). Since the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 1999, the stock has risen nearly 300,000%! Most of this gain has occurred over the past 10 years, as the advent of cloud computing has increased the importance of Nvidia GPUs.

However, what really supercharged the stock was the company’s dominance in AI chips. Demand for such chips made Nvidia the leading chip company, leading to a 10-for-1 stock split earlier this year. Combining that with previous splits, even Nvidia’s smallest shareholders would hold a significant position today.

Nvidia Share Rise

Investors who bought a share of Nvidia stock at the IPO would own 480 shares today. The company’s stock split 2-for-1 three times between 2000 and 2006, and 3-for-2 in 2007. No other splits occurred until the pandemic, when demand for Nvidia GPUs boosted shares, prompting a split of 4 for 1. . The AI ​​chip revolution drove the stock to a massive rally between late 2022 and today, leading to the aforementioned 10-for-1 split.

The financial gains were huge. A share at the IPO cost $12 before the six splits. Today, 480 shares hold a value of approximately $58,000. Thus, even owning a token amount of Nvidia in 1999 would have brought amazing profits.

Putting Nvidia’s growth into perspective

Finally, Nvidia shows that owning even one share can bring considerable share growth through splits.

Investors should not expect some of their growth stocks to become 480 stocks. However, if a company is consistently growing double-digit revenue and profits, it is likely to split every few years.

It takes just seven 2-for-1 splits for a stock to grow to 128 shares, or just two 10-for-1 splits to turn a stock into 100. Such examples show how investing in a successful growth stock of at first it can lead to exponential stock gains over time.