stock splits are pretty much irrelevant, from a financial point of view. one gets more stock at a commensurably lesser price per share. from a financial POV splits are a wash. they only have a practical value in the game of "Monopoly". the only benefit (and recently due to the availability of "partial shares" even that is questionable) is that the VERY small investor can buy multiple shares, and possibly, if there is indeed an increase in demand might raise the price per share. whether or not that's true is unclear, AFAIK.

anyway, a good example of what splits are all about can be seen within a stock like
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class A. the current price per share is $521,620.00. not many people can afford to buy even ONE share. for a normal company such a stock would be a good candidate for a stock split of about 1000 for one, so as to bring it down to a reasonable share price of $521.00. but Warren Buffet has his reasons for keeping it that high. one can speculate, but this isn't the time or place for it.

and as far as short term gains...well, the quotes were to show the financial success in the market of the two firms from their Initial Public Offerings until the day of the post. nothing more.