“How much cash does Apple have?” Horace Dediu writes for Asymco. “To the nearest million, as of the end of September 2017, Apple’s cash and investments totaled $268,895,000,000.”
“Note that this includes investments in the form of short- and long-term marketable securities. Long-term marketable securities are not always accounted as ‘cash’ because strictly cash is considered a liquid asset and some securities may not be sufficiently so,” Dediu explains. “Nevertheless, most analysts would agree that Apple’s securities are sufficiently liquid to qualify as cash. Note that for archaic reasons this cash is separated into US and non-US holdings with $17 billion located in the US.”
“Apple’s cash is extraordinary. It amounts to about 30% of its market capitalization. One reason is that Apple has taken many loans, totaling about $100 billion,” Dediu writes. “‘Whoa! Why would Apple need to take out loans? Does it have problems with cash flow?’ Quite the contrary, Apple’s operating cash flow is eye-watering. In the 2017 fiscal year (ending September) Apple generated $63,598,000,000 from operations. The loans are not needed to operate. They are used to pay shareholders. ‘Why does Apple need to pay shareholders?’ Because it’s their money.”
Much more in the full article – very highly recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: We round our cash and investments to the nearest million, too. 😉
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]