Microsoft’s Share Price: A Peculiar Weight

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One observes Microsoft, a concern presently valued at some four hundred units of currency per share, and a curious thought arises. It is not, at first glance, a candidate for division, for splitting asunder like a particularly stubborn turnip. Broadcom and Alphabet, those titans of industry, have already undergone such procedures, shedding shares like autumn leaves. Yet, Microsoft lingers, a substantial, if not quite bloated, presence.

The matter, however, is not so simple as mere numerical value. A pressure exists, a subtle insistence emanating from the very foundations of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is a pressure not of logic, but of… weighting. Imagine, if you will, a scale delicately balanced, and upon it, the entire American economy. Microsoft, by virtue of its price, exerts a disproportionate influence. A most peculiar arrangement, wouldn’t you agree?

The Dow’s Peculiar Affliction

The Dow, you see, is a creature of habit, a price-weighted index clinging to a bygone era. Each share is not judged by its inherent worth, its innovation, or even its profitability, but by its mere nominal value. A stock at a higher price exerts a greater pull, a heavier influence on the index’s movements. It is a system prone to absurdity, a bureaucratic dance where appearances matter more than substance. And Microsoft, with its substantial price, is becoming something of a… gravitational anomaly.

One notes that companies aspiring to join the Dow often engage in this splitting of shares, a preening display of affordability intended to curry favor with the index’s administrators. Berkshire Hathaway, that behemoth of a concern, remains stubbornly resistant, its shares costing more than a modest estate. A commendable defiance, perhaps, but a rare one. The temptation to conform, to become… divisible, is strong indeed.

One recalls, with a certain melancholy, Apple’s recent division in the year 2020. The shares, at that time, traded within a range not dissimilar to Microsoft’s current valuation. A premonition, perhaps? Or merely a coincidence, a random fluctuation in the chaotic currents of the market?

And then there is the matter of Artificial Intelligence. S&P Global, those arbiters of economic destiny, project a compound annual growth rate of 40% for this burgeoning field. Microsoft, many analysts believe, will outperform the market in the coming years. A most auspicious development, to be sure. But it also implies a further increase in the share price, a deepening of the existing imbalance. A troublesome prospect, wouldn’t you say?

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Still, a split is not imminent. Despite its price, Microsoft remains the third most expensive of the Dow’s thirty components. Goldman Sachs, that formidable institution, now exceeds nine hundred units per share – more than double Microsoft’s valuation. Caterpillar, not far behind, trades at around seven hundred and eighty. The pressure, it seems, will fall upon these concerns first. A temporary reprieve, perhaps, but a reprieve nonetheless.

A Split in the Near Term?

Microsoft investors should remain vigilant, but should not anticipate a division in the immediate future. The shares are, indeed, nearing Apple’s pre-split price from 2020. However, the fact that Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar trade at considerably higher valuations suggests that the index’s administrators may have become less inclined to encourage such procedures. A subtle shift in policy, perhaps, or merely a temporary lull in the bureaucratic tempest?

Until these more expensive components undergo a division, a split for Microsoft remains unlikely. The Dow, it seems, is content to maintain its peculiar imbalance, a monument to the absurdity of weighted averages. A most curious arrangement, wouldn’t you agree? One almost expects a small, disgruntled bureaucrat to emerge from the index itself, clutching a ledger and muttering about the proper allocation of shares.

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2026-02-18 13:32