A company opts for a share split (also know as stock split) when it wants to make its shares more affordable to small investors. This is achieved by increasing the number of outstanding shares, without actually issuing new ones. So the company simply splits each share into two or more shares. \r\rThis split is commonly in the ratio of two-for-one (2:1), or three-for-one (3:1), depending on the company. Sometimes, it can even be five-for-one (5:1). Depending on the split ratio, the shareholder gets two/three/five split shares of the same value, which together amount to the value of the stock before the split.\r\rBecause the original price of the share is constant, the company’s market capitalisation remains unaffected, even though the number of shares has increased thanks to the split. So, if there were 10,000 outstanding shares to begin with, the stock split will result in this swelling to 20,000/30,000/50,000 split shares, with the market cap remaining unchanged.