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Stock splits meant A LOT about 25 years ago and before. Individual online trading started in the mid 90s in a big way and changed the industry.
It takes a while for old adages to work their way through the mindset. Kind of like changing engine oil every 3000 miles. That became obsolete in the mid 90s but people still followed that "rule" even into the 2010's.
Anyway, the reason stocks splits were a hot item back in the day is that you had to go through a broker to buy/sell. Most brokers wouldn't even answer your call if you weren't trading 100 shares. Well, if a stock was trading at $50 ($5000 investment) it would be a big chunk to buy. If it suddenly went to $25 that was a great opportunity to get in. People would buy en mass and drive the price up. Hence, a stock split meant there were going to be buyers. Not so much anymore.
It's kind of like when Berkshire bought Burlington Northern. Part of the deal was to make Berkshire shares affordable to their new railroad employees (mostly in their stock matching in retirement funds). They offered a new share of Berkshire at 1/100 (if I remember correctly) to accommodate people that didn't have thousand$ to buy a single share. It initially brought in buyers and drove up the price. It settled down and makes no difference now.
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