If you bought Apple stock at the IPO, here’s how many shares you’d own now

Few stocks boast a pedigree as impressive as Applehis (AAPL 1.03%). Not only is the consumer tech giant the first publicly traded equipment to reach a trillion dollar market cap, but it’s also often the world’s most profitable company. It has earned its status as an investor favorite.

Apple stock has split several times since its initial public offering in 1980, of course. Essentially HAD to accommodate the organization’s incredible growth.

And that raises a curious question: If you bought a share of Apple at the IPO, how much would you own now?

Apple Stock Split History (and IPO Price Recalculation)

Apple stock has split five times since going public in December 1980. The first was a 2-for-1 split in 1987, followed by another 2-for-1 split in mid-2000. The next split occurred in early 2005. .. another 2 for 1 deal.

Then the party indeed it started. Following the explosive growth in revenue driven by the iPhone’s debut in 2007, Apple stock experienced a 7-for-1 split in mid-2014 and another 4-for-1 split in mid-2020.

Crunching the numbers, one share of Apple in 1980 would have become 224 shares today. Adjusting for all these splits, the stock’s IPO price of $22 per share is effectively reduced to $0.10.

Apple is an exception to the rule, but…

Apple’s is an extremely unusual case, of course. Most stocks don’t need to be split as much as this one.

However, not all stocks need to do equally well from the start to make you very, very rich. One or two of these mega-winners will do the trick. The challenge is just figuring out which companies have real long-term growth potential and which don’t. For every winner like Apple, there seems to be a handful of disappointing names like Blue Apron or Groupon. Take your photos, but also be discerning and realistic.