Apple counts more cash than many countries

Companies still haven’t forgotten about the credit crunch that occurred during the financial crisis. At the time, even the healthiest companies had a tough time meeting their short-term financial obligations.

As such, companies have spent much of the economic recovery building up their balance sheets with mountains of cash. Check out this table from US Trust showing Apple’s corporate cash hoard against the cash balances of various countries.

“Amid a world of uncertainty, one thing is without question: Most US corporations have plenty of capital at their disposal,” said US Trust’s Joseph Quinlan. “Indeed, capital is in abundance among America’s largest non-financial companies, with Moody’s noting that US firms were sitting on some $1.6 trillion in cash at the end of 2013, a 12 per cent increase from a year ago. The latest figure is nearly double the level of 2008.”

Indeed, the cash piles of some of the biggest corporations rival those of some of the major economies around the world. “The combined cash of Apple, Microsoft, Google, Verizon Communications and Pfizer climbed to $404 billion at the end of last year,” said Quinlan.

“That figure is up over 16.4 per cent from the prior year and is in excess of some of Asia’s most cash-laden nations including South Korea, with foreign exchange reserves of $336 billion, Hong Kong ($311 billion), Singapore ($270 billion) and India ($268 billion).

America’s top five holders of cash not only have more in the bank than most Asian states, but their savings are also in excess of the entire Eurozone’s ($221 billion).”

— Business Insider