It's impossible to predict the stock market's next move, but one thing we can be sure of is this: A bull market is coming. How do we know? Because times of market optimism and top performance always have followed bear markets.

And we're heading in the right direction: The S&P 500 last year touched its bear market low, but it's since climbed more than 20% from that point.

Once the index reaches a new high, investors can officially cheer the bull market's arrival. The best way to prepare for that much-awaited moment is to scoop up shares of companies likely to benefit during strong market times.

Where to start? With two companies that performed so well in recent years that they launched stock splits in 2022. Companies often split their stock after the price has soared, lowering the value of each individual share and making it easier for a broader range of investors to jump on board. Let's take a closer look at the stock-split stocks you'll want to buy hand over fist before the bull market.

1. Alphabet

Alphabet (GOOG 1.06%) (GOOGL 1.08%), the parent of Google, is the leader in the Internet search market by far. It holds a whopping 91% of the global market, and that's how the company continues to win when it comes to selling advertising. Advertisers know their potential customers use the Google search engine and can be reached right there with an ad.

This is pretty important, since ads are a major source of revenue for Alphabet. Google advertising alone made up 77% of revenue in the second quarter. During difficult economic times, advertisers' budgets suffer, and that means companies like Alphabet may suffer too. Though Google ad revenue dipped in recent quarters, it was back on the rise in the second quarter. And Google's overall revenue has continued to climb.

What's ahead? Alphabet's investment in artificial intelligence (AI) could become the next big growth driver for the company -- making searches better and keeping advertisers loyal. The tech giant recently launched testing of the Search Generative Experience powered by AI to transform the search experience.

Investors also may benefit from another exciting Alphabet business, and that's Google Cloud. Here, growth has soared, climbing 28% in the quarter. The cloud makes up a much smaller percentage of revenue than advertising, but this business is gaining ground and has plenty of room to grow.

Though Alphabet shares have climbed this year, the stock still trades for only 24 times forward earnings estimates. And that seems reasonable considering the company's market dominance and work to stay in the lead.

2. Amazon

Amazon (AMZN 0.58%) is a leader in two markets growing in the double digits: e-commerce and cloud computing. That should help the company excel in an improving economy and in a strong stock market environment.

We've already started to see some positive signs -- from Amazon's stock performance to the company's latest earnings report. Amazon shares have climbed 64% since the start of the year. And recent earnings are a reflection of the company's efforts to manage today's difficult times.

Higher inflation weighed heavily on Amazon by increasing the company's costs and hurting the budgets of its customers. Amazon suffered, and last year even reported its first annual loss in nearly a decade.

But Amazon quickly set to work to improve its cost structure, cutting jobs and looking to boost efficiency throughout its fulfillment network. For example, in the U.S. it now organizes fulfillment on a regional basis rather than shipping items cross-country.

As a result, Amazon reported net income in the second quarter compared to a net loss a year ago. Revenue rose in the double digits, and free cash flow improved to an inflow for the trailing 12 months compared with an outflow in the year-earlier period. And Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- the cloud computing business -- saw a shift from customers watching their budgets to customers launching new projects. This is important because AWS has generally driven profit at Amazon.

Amazon today trades for 2.6 times sales, compared to the average of around 4 in recent years. So, even after this year's gains, this stock-split player still looks like a bargain buy ahead of the next bull market.