Amazon is the biggest online retailer in the world. It’s made tens of billions of dollars in profit, and the company uses that cash to finance its businesses and projects for future earnings growth.
Despite the massive take in earnings, the company hasn’t paid cash dividends to stockholders and has instead rewarded them in other ways, such as stock splits and buybacks. It’s a strategy not unlike its peers in the tech industry, in which the focus is on reinvesting earnings back into key business opportunities to boost profitability.
Here’s a deeper look at why Amazon has yet to pay a cash dividend and how many times it has split its shares.
Why doesn’t Amazon pay cash dividends?
Amazon has never paid a cash dividend to shareholders. The company has historically used its cash to finance other ventures to increase profit. It’s a strategy that Amazon used early in its formative years, expanding sales from books when it first billed itself as “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” to music and other consumer goods such as computer monitors and household gadgets.
In its formative years, even as sales grew, billions of dollars in losses piled on before it turned a profit in 2003.
The company also focused on growing its businesses in warehousing and distribution, logistics, and delivery, and then expanded into other ventures such as electronic assistance (Alexa), advertising, and pharmaceuticals. In recent years, its priorities have included integrating its cloud computing services into Amazon Web Services (AWS) and AI data centers, which require significant financial investments.
To reward shareholders, the company has repurchased stock to boost its earnings on a per-share basis. When it announced its latest stock split in 2022, it also authorized a $10 billion stock buyback plan. As of the end of 2025, the retailer had $6.1 billion remaining in the repurchase program.
For investors who want to buy Amazon’s stock without going through a transfer agent like a broker, the retailer uses Computershare for its direct stock purchase plan (DSPP).
Related: Jeff Bezos’ net worth: How Amazon’s founder spends his billions
When did Amazon conduct its first stock split?
Amazon went public on May 15, 1997, and a year later, the company conducted its first stock split. On April 27, 1998, Amazon announced a 2-for-1 split of common shares, effective on June 2, 1998, for stockholders of record on May 20, 1998.
More on Amazon:
- Who owns Amazon? Top executives and institutional investors
- Where are Amazon’s headquarters? Seattle and beyond
- History of Amazon: From garage startup to tech titan
How many times has Amazon split its stock?
Amazon has had four stock splits as a publicly traded company. On June 2, 1998, it gave stockholders two shares for each one they owned. That was followed by two effective splits in 1999, during the internet frenzy: a 3-for-1 in January and a 2-for-1 in September.
It took Amazon more than two decades to implement another stock split. In 2022, it awarded stockholders 20 shares for every one they owned. Before the 20-for-1 stock split, Amazon was trading at around $2,400 a share, making it one of the highest-priced stocks in the S&P 500 index on a per-share basis.
Amazon’s stock split history at a glance
| Post-split date | Stock split action |
|---|---|
|
June 3, 2022 |
20 for 1 |
|
September 1, 1999 |
2 for 1 |
|
January 5, 1999 |
3 for 1 |
|
June 2 ,1998 |
2 for 1 |
What would Amazon’s stock price be in 2026 if it hadn’t conducted any stock splits?
Amazon’s stock price, had the stock not been split four times, can be calculated by multiplying the current stock price by the number of shares stockholders held prior to each stock split action:
Current Amazon stock price x 20 x 2 x 3 x 2 = Amazon stock price had the stock never been split
Had Amazon never conducted stock splits, a share would be valued at $63,669.60, based on the May 26, 2026, closing price. At that price, purchasing Amazon’s stock would be out of the price range of most retail investors.