Shares in Netflix plunged 90% on Friday, but there’s no need for investors to fret — the dramatic drop is the result of the streaming giant’s decision to undergo a 10-for-1 stock split. In fact, the company’s share price was higher in pre-market trading.

At the end of October, Netflix revealed plans for the stock split, a move aimed at making its shares more affordable for retail investors. The company announced it would issue nine additional shares for every share held after the market close on 10 November, making its stock more accessible to employees participating in its stock option program.

This is Netflix’s third stock split since it went public in 2002, with the last split in 2019 reducing the company’s per-share price from around $700 to roughly $100. The 10-for-1 split now brings the stock price down even further, but this is purely a cosmetic change, one that won’t affect the company’s market value or financial performance.

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“A split will make it easier for small investors to buy in but it doesn’t change anything about the company or its attractiveness to institutional investors who drive the market,” said Ross Benes, senior analyst at EMarketer.

Stock splits have become a common tool for companies to increase liquidity and widen their shareholder base without altering the underlying fundamentals of the business. While the price drop might appear alarming at first, the overall value of an investor’s holdings remains the same.

US-listed shares of Alibaba are recovering from Friday’s sharp drop, triggered by a Financial Times report that alleged the White House had issued a memo claiming the company was providing tech support to the Chinese military, threatening US national security.

The Financial Times article stated that the memo accused Alibaba of supplying unspecified technologies to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which the White House allegedly viewed as a potential threat to US interests. The report cited declassified top-secret intelligence but noted that it was unable to independently verify the claims, and did not publish the full version of the memo. The exact timing of the memo’s release remains unclear.

In response to the allegations, Alibaba Group Holding quickly dismissed the report, calling the accusations baseless. A company spokesperson criticised the leak as an attempt to undermine diplomatic efforts between the US and China, particularly in the wake of a recent trade deal with Beijing.

“The assertions and innuendos in the article are completely false,” an Alibaba spokesman told the South China Morning Post (SCMP). “We question the motivation behind the anonymous leak, which the FT admits that they cannot verify.

“This malicious PR operation clearly came from a rogue voice looking to undermine president Trump’s recent trade deal with China.” Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Shares in WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, surged by more than 5% in London on Monday, driven by a wave of takeover speculation. According to the Sunday Times, French advertising rival Havas (JP7.F) has held talks about acquiring WPP, while private equity giants Apollo and KKR are also said to be exploring a potential bid for the company.

This renewed interest in WPP comes on the heels of a difficult period for the advertising group. Earlier this month, WPP’s share price tumbled to its lowest level since 1998, after a significant cut to its revenue guidance for the year. The company’s newly appointed CEO, Cindy Rose, acknowledged that WPP’s recent performance had been “unacceptable,” further rattling investor confidence.

Various options are reportedly being considered, including a full acquisition, a substantial stake purchase, or even a partial breakup of the company, with particular focus on WPP Media, its subsidiary specialising in the purchase of advertising space.

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Valued at £24bn in 2017, WPP now has a market capitalisation of just £3bn. The company’s struggles have been compounded by short sellers, with eight hedge funds now holding short positions that account for 8.5% of WPP’s shares. These investors are betting on further declines, fuelled by speculation that WPP could be removed from the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), a move that could prompt large-scale divestments from index-tracking funds.

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