Wayne DugganInvesting Expert Writer
Wayne Duggan has a decade of experience covering breaking market news and providing analysis and commentary related to popular stocks. Wayne is a senior contributor for U.S. News & World Report and a regular contributor for Forbes Advisor and USA...
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Wayne DugganInvesting Expert Writer
Wayne Duggan has a decade of experience covering breaking market news and providing analysis and commentary related to popular stocks. Wayne is a senior contributor for U.S. News & World Report and a regular contributor for Forbes Advisor and USA...
See Full Bio
Written By
Wayne Duggan
Wayne DugganInvesting Expert Writer
Wayne Duggan has a decade of experience covering breaking market news and providing analysis and commentary related to popular stocks. Wayne is a senior contributor for U.S. News & World Report and a regular contributor for Forbes Advisor and USA...
See Full Bio
Wayne DugganInvesting Expert Writer
Wayne Duggan has a decade of experience covering breaking market news and providing analysis and commentary related to popular stocks. Wayne is a senior contributor for U.S. News & World Report and a regular contributor for Forbes Advisor and USA...
See Full Bio
Investing Expert Writer
Michael AdamsInvesting Editor
Michael Adams is an investing editor. He's researched, written about and practiced investing for nearly two decades. As a writer, Michael has covered everything from stocks to cryptocurrency and ETFs for many of the world's major financial publicatio...
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Michael AdamsInvesting Editor
Michael Adams is an investing editor. He's researched, written about and practiced investing for nearly two decades. As a writer, Michael has covered everything from stocks to cryptocurrency and ETFs for many of the world's major financial publicatio...
See Full Bio
Michael Adams
Michael AdamsInvesting Editor
Michael Adams is an investing editor. He's researched, written about and practiced investing for nearly two decades. As a writer, Michael has covered everything from stocks to cryptocurrency and ETFs for many of the world's major financial publicatio...
See Full Bio
Michael AdamsInvesting Editor
Michael Adams is an investing editor. He's researched, written about and practiced investing for nearly two decades. As a writer, Michael has covered everything from stocks to cryptocurrency and ETFs for many of the world's major financial publicatio...
See Full Bio
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& 1 other
Updated: Jul 1, 2024, 3:22pm
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
There are a few stocks with a price per share that has risen into the four digits. These stocks look very expensive, and for certain investors, a high share price could potentially be a symbol of a company’s success. Some high-priced stocks have been outstanding performers over recent years.
However, the dollar price of a stock doesn’t tell you much about a company’s underlying value. That’s because a high share price has more to do with a company’s ownership structure than its business fundamentals.
Expensive shares might even deter investors who feel there’s limited upside for a stock. In addition, smaller investors may not be able to afford a single share of a highly-priced stock.
In this list, Forbes Advisor rounds up the 10 public companies that have the most expensive share prices on major U.S. stock exchanges.
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Show Summary
- 10 Most Expensive Stocks of September 2024
- MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR)
- MercadoLibre Inc. (MELI)
- First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA)
- White Mountains Insurance (WTM)
- AutoZone Inc. (AZO)
- Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)
- Seaboard Corp. (SEB)
- Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG)
- NVR, Inc. (NVR)
- Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (BRK.A)
- Stock Prices Don’t Mean Much
- Share Price vs. Value
- Stock Splits and Expensive Stocks
- Should You Buy Expensive Stocks?
- Next Up In Investing
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10 Most Expensive Stocks of September 2024
MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR)
Stock Price
$1,695
Market Cap
$30.1 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+27.9%
$1,695
$30.1 billion
+27.9%
Editor's Take
MicroStrategy is a software solutions company that operates online through an app, online sales or the cloud. To help companies scale up and achieve their visions, MicroStrategy harnesses artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI.
Part of MSTR’s most recent appeal, however, is that it is also a bitcoin development company that contributes to the network and accumulates bitcoin. As crypto has been catapulted into a new bull market this year, MSTR has reaped the benefits.
MercadoLibre Inc. (MELI)
Stock Price
$1,737
Market Cap
$88.1 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+34.9%
$1,737
$88.1 billion
+34.9%
Editor's Take
MercadoLibre is the largest e-commerce marketplace in Latin America. Investors might even think of it as Latin America’s version of Amazon.com (AMZN).
As of December 2021, the company has more than 140 million users and 1 million sellers across 18 different countries. It has a host of complimentary business segments, including shipping, payment and financing, advertising, classifieds and more.
MELI derives its revenue from final payments, advertising, processing payments, subscriptions and other operations.
White Mountains Insurance (WTM)
Stock Price
$1,756
Market Cap
$4.5 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+11.7%
$1,756
$4.5 billion
+11.7%
Editor's Take
White Mountains Insurance is a diversified insurance and financial services holding company that owns and manages a number of different businesses.
In its 30-year history, White Mountains has owned and operated property and casualty insurers, life insurers, financial guarantors, brokerages, reinsurers, service companies and investment advisors.
White Mountains is an excellent example of how a company with a relatively small business can still have a high share price. The company reported just $1.16 billion in total revenue in 2022.
AutoZone Inc. (AZO)
Stock Price
$2,774
Market Cap
$47.6 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+18.9%
$2,774
$47.6 billion
+18.9%
Editor's Take
AutoZone is an auto parts and accessories retailer that operates more than 6,500 stores in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. The company has a growing commercial customer base, but it still derives about 70% of its U.S. sales from do-it-yourself shoppers.
The average age of vehicles on U.S. roads reached a record high of above 12 years in 2022, a trend which should continue to support auto parts sales and AutoZone’s expensive stock price.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)
Stock Price
$3,060
Market Cap
$84.1 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+18.9%
$3,060
$84.1 billion
+18.9%
Editor's Take
Chipotle Mexican Grill operates fast casual Mexican restaurants and has more than 3,000 locations, mostly in the U.S.
Chipotle sells burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, quesadillas and beverages, and its brand is focused on high-quality ingredients, competitive prices, convenience and speed of service.
Chipotle has also invested heavily in online and mobile sales and has built an impressive loyalty program membership of more than 30 million customers.
Seaboard Corp. (SEB)
Stock Price
$3,251
Market Cap
$3.2 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+2.1%
$3,251
$3.2 billion
+2.1%
Editor's Take
Seaboard is a Kansas-based multinational agribusiness and transportation conglomerate.
The company’s diverse business divisions include Seaboard Foods premium pork products, Seaboard Marine ocean transport company, Seaboard Overseas and Trading Group, Butterball turkey products and Mount Dora Farms jalapeno pepper processing.
Seaboard shares have lagged over the past decade, but its business and geographical diversification help mitigate investment risk.
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG)
Stock Price
$3,721
Market Cap
$126.2 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+11.2%
$3,721
$126.2 billion
+11.2%
Editor's Take
Booking Holdings operates leading online travel platforms, primarily in the U.S. and Europe. Booking is the parent company of popular online travel brands, including Priceline.com, Booking.com, Agoda and OpenTable.
In addition to hotel and alternative accommodation room booking, Booking customers can book airline tickets, rental cars, restaurant reservations, cruises and other vacation packages.
The online travel industry was crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Booking’s business has fully recovered, including record revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
NVR, Inc. (NVR)
Stock Price
$7,373
Market Cap
$23.1 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+20.7%
$7,373
$23.1 billion
+20.7%
Editor's Take
NVR is one of the largest U.S. homebuilders, primarily focusing on single-family detached home construction. The company also has a mortgage and title insurance business.
The Federal Reserve’s emergency interest rate cuts in 2020 triggered a boom in the U.S. housing market, but the Fed has now been raising interest rates for the past year to combat inflation. As a result, mortgage rates have spiked and the housing market has cooled, weighing on NVR’s orders and growth outlook.
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (BRK.A)
Stock Price
$610,868
Market Cap
$876.0 billion
10-Year Avg. Annualized Return
+12.3%
$610,868
$876.0 billion
+12.3%
Editor's Take
Berkshire Hathaway is billionaire value investing legend Warren Buffett’s multinational conglomerate holding company.
Berkshire has a massive public and private investment portfolio that includes stocks such as Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC) and Chevron (CVX). Berkshire’s Class B shares are reasonably priced at just $308 per share, but its Class A stock price is approaching half a million dollars per share.
Buffett has said he will never split Berkshire’s Class A stock because he believes the high stock price ensures Berkshire has a sophisticated voting shareholder base with a long-term investing mindset.
*All data is sourced from StockRover, current as of May 30, 2024.
Stock Prices Don’t Mean Much
One of the biggest misconceptions among inexperienced investors is that a high share price indicates a stock is overvalued.
In reality, what matters is a company’s underlying value, which is more accurately represented by its market capitalization. Market cap is calculated by multiplying a company’s stock price by its total number of outstanding shares.
Different companies have widely different share structures, even if they have similar market caps. For example, Bank of America and Eli Lilly have similar market caps of around $300 billion—but Bank of America has more than 8.1 billion outstanding shares while Eli Lilly has only 950 million.
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Stock Splits and Expensive Stocks
The list of most expensive stocks in the market mostly represents successful companies that have chosen not to implement stock splits.
A stock split increases a company’s total number of shares outstanding by a specific multiple and decreases its share price by that same multiple.
For example, a company with 1 million shares of stock worth $1,000 each may choose to implement a 2-for-1 split that would double its share count to 2 million and decrease its share price to $500.
It’s important for investors to understand that stock splits don’t inherently create any value for investors. In the case of the hypothetical stock split described above, the company’s market cap would be $1 billion both before and after the stock split.
Should You Buy Expensive Stocks?
The only difference between stocks with expensive share prices and stocks with affordable share prices is their share structure. A stock with a high share price is generally just as likely to have long-term upside potential as a stock with a low share price.
Dr. Robert Johnson, a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and professor of finance at Creighton University, says a company’s stock price should essentially be irrelevant to investors.
“What investors should be interested in is what ownership the share entitles them to. That is, as a shareholder, how much of the firm and the firm’s earning power do I own,” Johnson says.
This ownership is represented not by a stock’s share price but rather by its fundamental valuation metrics, such as P/E, price-to-sales and price-to-free cash flow ratios.
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