If you own shares of GE, you may have noticed that the share price
jumped 700 percent in one day! The reason is that GE underwent a 1-for-8 reverse stock split.
As a result, the stock price increased from $12.95 to about $104. CEO
Larry Culp stated that the split was undertaken to be more comparable to
its peers. Typically, a reverse stock split is done after poor stock
performance. However, GE's stock has increased by about 20 percent so
far this year. However, as we note in the textbook and the article
notes, stock spits really don't amount to much more than keeping a stock
price in a familiar range.