What were the biggest investing stories of 2025? A few especially stand out.
The steep sell-off and subsequent rebound after President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement is one. The continued artificial intelligence (AI) boom warrants a prominent mention. Several major stock splits were newsworthy as well, notably Netflix's (NFLX 0.21%) 10-for-1 split in November and O'Reilly Automotive's (ORLY 0.37%) 15-for-1 split in June.
I suspect more stock splits will be on the way in the new year. I'll even go out on a limb and predict two of the biggest stock-split winners of 2026.
Image source: Getty Images.
A Latin flair
If there's any stock that's a prime candidate for a stock split, it's MercadoLibre (MELI 6.74%). Shares of this Latin American e-commerce and fintech leader currently hover around $1,960. And that reflects a decline from recent highs. MercadoLibre's shares traded above $2,000 throughout much of 2025.
NASDAQ: MELI
Key Data Points
Surprisingly, MercadoLibre has never conducted a stock split since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2007. That hasn't been a problem so far, though. The company's share price has skyrocketed more than 70x since its IPO.
MercadoLibre is the 800-pound gorilla in Latin American e-commerce. It's one of the region's leading fintech companies, ranking either No. 1 or No. 2 in monthly active users in all of the countries it serves. MercadoLibre is also building an impressive digital advertising business, which currently holds the third-largest market share in Latin America.
Despite its past success, the company still has tremendous growth opportunities. The markets that MercadoLibre is targeting have a combined population exceeding 500 million and a GDP of around $5.5 trillion. E-commerce penetration lags significantly behind that of the U.S. and China. Financial services in Latin America are already being disrupted, but there is still a long way to go.
Give this social media stock a like
Like MercadoLibre, Meta Platforms (META 2.48%) has never conducted a stock split. Shares of the social media giant currently trade around $660. That's a level where the management teams of many companies would consider a stock split.
Meta's family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp) attract more than 3.5 billion active users daily. That's roughly 42% of the world's population looking at at least one of the company's platforms each day.
NASDAQ: META
Key Data Points
As you might expect, advertisers are willing to spend a considerable amount of money to get their products and services in front of this massive audience. Meta expects to generate around $200 billion in revenue this year, with roughly 97% of the total coming from advertising.
However, Meta's opportunities aren't limited to social media. The company is the clear leader in smart glasses, with sales of its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses and Oakley Meta AI glasses surging. CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that glasses are the "ideal form factor for AI."
Speaking of AI, Meta is also investing heavily to push the envelope with the game-changing technology. The company has formed a team of top experts to develop AI superintelligence (ASI). Some think ASI is decades away, but Zuckerberg wrote in July, "Developing superintelligence is now in sight."
Winners in 2026
Will MercadoLibre and Meta Platforms conduct stock splits in 2026? I don't know. Neither company has indicated plans for a stock split so far. However, I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them announce splits next year.
If this does happen, I suspect that it will spur investor interest in the stocks. To be clear, stock splits do not change a thing about the underlying business of a company. They do, though, lower share prices to levels that could entice more retail investors to buy.
Even if neither MercadoLibre nor Meta conducts stock splits in 2026, I think both stocks should be big winners next year. The growth opportunities for both companies remain attractive – split or no split.
