Apple’s legendary cash reserves have reached new heights as the company prepares to reveal the exact magnitude of its stockpile.
There are many metrics by which you can measure a company’s success. For instance, Apple has the world’s highest market capitalisation – that’s the price of a single Apple share, multiplied the number of shares issued. By that measure, Apple is worth an incredible $750 billion, making it the most valuable company on the planet.
But Apple’s success can also be measured by the amount of liquid cash it has lying around. We’ve always known that Apple has had significant cash reserves, with the firm reporting nearly $82 billion back in September 2011.
According to Marketwatch however, Apple is expected to report on Tuesday that it now has a stockpile of cash worth more than a quarter of a trillion dollars. That means Apple has racked up over $250 billion, and is saving it for a rainy day. What’s more, Marketwatch reports that more than 90% of Apple’s cash reserves are stockpiled outside of the US.
Apple, the company behind the iPhone, is richer than ever before
To put that mind-boggling sum into perspective, $250 billion exceeds the combined foreign-currency reserves of the UK and Canada combined. It’s also greater than the market value of both Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., both corporate giants in their own respect.
It also means that Apple’s cash reserves outstrip the gross domestic product of 148 countries around the world, including large economies like Finland, Portugal, and New Zealand, as based on IMF forecast figures for 2017.
Having high cash reserves is a great boon for companies, as it means their value isn’t tied up in potentially risky and illiquid assets. It also means Apple can more easily justify moonshots, like its secretive Apple Car development program that’s reportedly codenamed Project Titan.
Apple is expected to release its quarterly earnings tomorrow, detailing the firm’s finances over the last three months.
