The most obvious reason for Broadcom to split is its share price, which has risen by a factor of 20 over the past nine years. As of March 29, a single share of Broadcom would set investors back more than $641. Even though quite a few online brokerages now allow fractional-share investing, saving up $641 and change to purchase a single share of Broadcom could be difficult or impossible for some retail investors. A forward stock split would make the company's shares far more retail-friendly.