Apple Computer (AAPL) announced Friday that its board of directors has approved a two-for-one split of the companyis common stock.
In addition, the board also approved a proportional increase in the number of Apple common shares from 900 million to 1.8 billion. Each shareholder of record at the close of business on February 18, 2005 will receive one additional share for every outstanding share held on the record date, and trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis on February 28, 2005.
The Apple stock split is its first since June, 2000 and only the third in 18 years.
Appleis stock has seen good times as of late with strong sales of its iPod digital music devices and the companyis recent announcment of its cheapest Macintosh PC, the Mac mini.
Last month, the company beat analystsi expectations with its first-quarter results of US$295 million, or 70 cents a share, compared with net income of $63 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier. Analysts had predicted 49 cents in the quarter, according to Thomson First Call.
Apple stock closed Thursday at US$78.36, down 38 cents. It hit a 52-week high of $81.99 on Wednesday.