Many retail investors might shy away from higher-priced stocks that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per share. Even though most brokerages now allow investors to buy fractional shares of those stocks, some investors might still prefer to buy round lots (100 shares) at lower prices because they're easier to keep track of.

To reach those smaller investors, a lot of companies split their stocks to make them easier to trade. These stock splits don't change the underlying value of the company, since they merely break a single share into smaller slices, but they can make it easier to trade options or fund employee stock-based compensation plans. They also tend to generate a lot of media buzz and attract fresh interest from short-term traders.

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Source Fool.com