Although artificial intelligence (AI) has been the clear-cut next-big-thing trend driving Wall Street's major stock indexes to record-closing highs in 2024, don't overlook the equally important role stock-split euphoria has played in lifting equities.

Stock splits are a tool publicly traded companies have at their disposal that allows them to cosmetically adjust their share price and outstanding share count. The "cosmetic" aspect of splits is that adjusting a company's share price and share count by the same factor has no impact on its market cap or underlying operating performance.

There are two variations of stock splits, with investors favoring one considerably more than the other. Reverse-stock splits are designed to increase a company's share price, usually with the goal of ensuring continued listing on a major stock exchange.

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Source Fool.com