Investing in the $1,000 club

A share priced at €8,000 feels out of reach for many investors. It's too expensive. Too elitist. And yet, behind that high price often lies a well thought-out strategy. Some companies don't want fast traders; instead, they want patient shareholders. And they deliberately set their price to get them.

When Netflix split its shares (ten for one) in November 2025, it said goodbye to the exclusive $1,000 club – shares in the S&P 500 worth at least four figures. However, investors shed few tears over it, as since its stock market debut in 2002, the stock had already enjoyed an 89,000% ride (source: Bloomberg, situation as at November 2025).

In the S&P 500 today, there are still a dozen companies with share prices above $1,000. Examples include house builder NVR Inc., Booking Holdings (owner of Booking.com, among others), AutoZone (car parts), pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, asset manager BlackRock and Mettler-Toledo (lab equipment). Berkshire Hathaway class A shares are even trading above $750,000 each, but are not included in the S&P 500 (source: Bloomberg, situation as at January 2026).

This raises an intriguing question. While tech giants such as Amazon, Alphabet and Apple split their shares time and time again to remain accessible to small investors, a select group of companies are sticking to a strategy that seems contrary to the democratisation of investing.

Is this four-figure share price a deliberate quality filter, or an outdated strategy that excludes investors?

Quality over quantity

For decades, Warren Buffett refused to split Berkshire Hathaway's A shares. His reasoning? A high share price discourages speculation and attracts long-term investors. "The share price works as a natural filter", Buffett once explained.

That philosophy works. From 1964 to 2024, Berkshire delivered a compound annual return of 19.9% – almost twice that of the S&P 500's 10.4%. The total return was more than 5.5 million per cent (source).

The logic is clear: anyone willing to pay thousands of euros for one share will probably think long and hard before selling, which creates a more stable shareholding and less volatility. Research confirms that shares with higher nominal prices often experience lower daily price fluctuations (source).

A high share price also sends a strong signal: it implies decades of consistent growth and financial health.

Culture and prestige

There is also a certain prestige associated with being part of the exclusive club of four-figure shares. Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline) even did a reverse split in 2003 to raise its share price as the company went through difficult times. The decision was deliberate: management wanted to show that the company was back on track. Since then, it has refused to split (source).

Firmly priced shares are not just a US phenomenon. There are also numerous examples in Europe, such as ASML, Rheinmetall, Hermès and Lindt & Sprüngli (source: Bloomberg, situation as at January 2026). The Belgian company Lotus Bakeries has not split its share either. In fact, with an absolute price of more than €8,000, it is among the 'most expensive' European shares. This price reflects remarkable growth from a local biscuit maker to a global player. The Boone and Stevens family, founders of the company, still own the majority of the shares (source 1 and source 2: Bloomberg, situation as at January 2026).

Cost savings and a buffer against speculators

Furthermore, a share split is not a free operation. There are legal costs, a lot of administration, recalculation of options and warrants, and potential confusion among investors. By not splitting, a company saves these costs and hassle, and can use the resources more productively.

High-priced shares are also less attractive to day traders and speculators. The minimum investment is simply too high to get in and out quickly with small amounts. This also protects the share against pump and dump practices (manipulation through coordinated buying and selling) and extreme volatility (wild price fluctuations due to emotional trading).

The flip side…

Research shows that investors suffer from a nominal price illusion – they see cheap shares as more attractive, regardless of the fundamentals. A €10 share feels more accessible than one costing €5,000, even if the market capitalisation and valuation are identical (source).

This psychological barrier is real. Retail investors hold significantly more low-priced shares than institutional investors. After a stock split, companies often see an increase in the number of small shareholders (source).

High share prices can also limit liquidity. Those who want to invest €10,000 can buy twenty shares at €500 each and therefore make more flexible decisions than with just one share worth €10,000.

And that lack of liquidity has a second, often overlooked effect. It can prevent a share from being included in major stock market indices. For Lotus Bakeries, for example, it took a long time to land in the BEL 20 – and not being in such an index is no small matter. Many ETFs are then simply not allowed to buy a share, which can depress demand.

Conclusion

For investors, it is important to realise that a high share price in itself doesn't say anything about the valuation or return potential. What's often seen as an 'expensive share' is, in reality, often simply a share with a visibly high price. That's something different from actually being expensive. A €2,000 share may be undervalued, while a €0.20 share may be overvalued. The trick is to look at the fundamentals, not the nominal price.

A four-figure price says something about the company's culture, its history and its vision of shareholding. Some companies embrace mass; others seek stability in selectivity. Both strategies can be successful – it depends on what suits the business.

On the other hand, it is no coincidence that we are currently seeing a relatively large number of shares with an optically high price. After years of rising stock markets, share prices have simply had room to keep rising. Finally, it makes sense to take the 'new' four-figure shares with a grain of salt. Companies such as Rheinmetall and Eli Lilly have only recently seen this optically high price as a result of a strong rally in a short period of time. It remains to be seen whether they will continue to consciously defend that price or proceed to a split. In their case, for the time being, it's more about catching up with reality than a well-thought-out strategy, as is clearly the case with Berkshire Hathaway (A shares), Lotus Bakeries and Lindt & Sprüngli.

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