Constellation Software and Canadian Pacific Kansas City both have the right ingredients for stock splits in 2026. That is, these are companies with relatively high share prices, long-term compounding track records, and a growing retail investor base that struggles with four-digit price tags.
Here’s why I think both companies could be due for key stock splits in the year to come.
Source: Getty Images
Constellation Software
Constellation Software (TSX:CSU) has become the Berkshire of vertical-market software, and its share price reflects that. Still sitting in the mid‑$2,000 range after touching as high as about $5,300 over the past year, this means that a single share of CSU stock can often cost more than a diversified TFSA contribution in a given month. That’s a major psychological barrier, even if fractional shares are increasingly available.
Since going public, Constellation has never done a stock split. Indeed, an investor who bought 1,000 shares at IPO still owns exactly 1,000 shares today.
However, that “no-split” history has helped cultivate an aura of exclusivity, but it also concentrates trading in a relatively small, high-ticket float. And with shares of CSU stock now still trading above the $2,000 level (after recently moving above $5,000), there’s good reason to believe that a stock split could spur increased demand, as it would signal bullishness from the company’s management team in its ability to grow and potentially broaden the investor base behind the scenes.
Personally, I’d like to see a 5-for-1 or 10-for-1 split and have been calling for one for years. While it may remain unlikely, it’s the preferable course of action many investors would like to see, particularly if Constellation Software can resume its uptrend
Canadian Pacific Kansas City
Now, for a Canadian stock that has split its stock in the past. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSX:CP) is one Canadian company that’s actually seen three stock splits in the past, with its most recent in May of 2021. That track record tells investors that management is willing to use splits as a tool when the share price drifts uncomfortably high and threatens day‑to‑day liquidity.
CPKC is now the only single‑line railway connecting Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. That business model provides a unique North American freight network that should benefit from re-shoring and near‑shoring trends over the coming decade.
If that thesis continues to play out and the stock grinds higher, the board could again face the familiar choice: let the absolute price march further into the triple‑digits, or reset the meter with a split to keep the shares accessible to a broader swath of long‑term holders.
For Foolish investors, the key is that splits don’t change intrinsic value. What they do change is perception and accessibility. In 2026, both Constellation Software and CPKC could decide it’s time to invite a few more Canadians onto the shareholder registry (not by altering the businesses, but simply by slicing the same great companies into more bite‑sized pieces).
