You might not know it, but Home Depot (HD 0.69%) is one of the best-performing stocks in the history of the stock market.
The home improvement retailer went public in 1981 just three years after the company was founded. At the time it had just six stores, but it grew quickly in its early years. Today, it has more than 2,000 stores, primarily in the U.S.
As a stock, Home Depot delivered a phenomenal return of 1,730,000% since its IPO. It would have turned a $1,000 investment into more than $17 million today, and that doesn't include reinvesting dividends. On a total-return basis, the stock is up 2,979,000%, turning a $1,000 investment into nearly $30 million when including dividends reinvested.
Image source: Home Depot.
Home Depot's stock-split history
As you might expect given that level of return, Home Depot split its stock several times over its history. Home Depot's stock-split timeline:
| Split Type | Record Date |
|---|---|
| 3-for-2 | Jan. 5, 1982 |
| 5-for-4 | April 12, 1982 |
| 2-for-1 | Nov. 29, 1982 |
| 2-for-1 | June 1, 1983 |
| 3-for-2 | Sept. 8, 1987 |
| 3-for-2 | June 14, 1989 |
| 3-for-2 | June 14, 1990 |
| 3-for-2 | June 5, 1991 |
| 3-for-2 | June 11, 1992 |
| 4-for-3 | March 24, 1993 |
| 3-for-2 | June 12, 1997 |
| 2-for-1 | June 11, 1998 |
| 3-for-2 | Dec. 2, 1999 |
Source: Home Depot.
If you owned one share of Home Depot at the time of its IPO, you would now have 341 shares of the home improvement retailer after the 13 stock splits. During that time, the individual price of a share has also surged from $12 at the IPO to $368.16 as of July 31, 2024.
Notably, Home Depot hasn't split its stock in nearly 25 years. However, with the share price near $400, another split is possible if the stock continues to gain. If interest rates come down and the housing market wakes up, we could see the stock crank higher, increasing expectations for another stock split.
