Nasdaq-listed Tesla (TSLA:NASDAQ) wants to split its shares for the second time in less than two years after the stock’s latest surge.

While the split details weren’t disclosed, when the stock last split in 2020, it handed investors five new shares for every existing one owned. More interestingly, that previous announcement also led to a rough 33% rally in the share price between the announcement (11 Aug 2020) and the stock split taking effect on 31 August 2020.

Tesla made its new stock split intentions clear at its annual shareholder meeting on 28 March 2022. Since then, the price has rallied from $1,010.64 to $1,145.45, a gain of 13%.

Shareholders will have to vote in favour of the split but investors backing seems highly likely. If we assume a similar five-for-one division, it would see shareholders handed five shares at $229 for every $1,145.45 one they now own.

Tesla stock struggled in the early part of this year as investors turned their back on growth in the face of rampant inflation, a rising tide of interest rate hikes and the geopolitical turmoil created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But the stock has staged a sharp rebound since the middle of March, following the company receiving German government backing to deliver the first cars built at its new factory outside of Berlin.

Shares are up a fraction shy of 50% since 14 March, a run that coincides with Tesla’s latest stock split announcement, giving the company a market value of $1.18 trillion.

Fanning the share price flames was news on 2 April that Tesla had delivered a record number of its cars in the first quarter, despite supply chain challenges. The electric carmaker said it delivered 310,048 cars from the start of this year to the end of March, up from 184,800 a year earlier, according to figures released over the weekend.

A number of other high flying tech  stocks have announced splits recently, including Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) and Google-owner Alphabet  (GOOG:NASDAQ). Both have announced plans for 20-for-one stock splits since the start of February.

Meme stock GameStop (GME:NYSE) also unveiled plans for a stock split on 31 March. GameStop’s share price jumped around 19% in after-hours trading yet investors seem more sceptical of its move, with the share price failing to hang on to those initial gains.

At $170.73, GameStop shares are just 2.5% up from where they closed before the announcement was made. The rationale for a split looks less clear than with the tech giants too as its shares already trade at a more bite-sized price.

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