Scalper1 News
If cash is king, then Microsoft ( MSFT ) gets the crown among companies in the S&P 500, ending last year with $102.6 billion in cash and short-term equivalent on its balance sheet. But Apple ( AAPL ) leads when including long-term cash equivalents, holding a whopping $215.7 billion at year’s end, according to an analysis from FactSet Research. Long-term equivalents are investments that take more than one year to turn into cash. Following Microsoft in terms of cash and short-term equivalents is Google-parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ) at $73 billion. Next come General Electric ( GE ) at $70.5 billion, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) at $60.4 billion, and Oracle ( ORCL ) at $52.3 billion. The information technology sector had the largest cash balance among the S&P 500’s 10 sectors, with $580.2 billion at the end of Q4, FactSet said. That’s been the norm over the past 10 years, it said. The tech sector’s holding were up 15% over Q4 2014, making it the only industry sector to increase its cash and short-term investments year over year. Following Microsoft, Alphabet, Cisco and Oracle in the IT sector, in terms of cash and short-term equivalents, is Apple at $38 billion, then Intel ( INTC ) at $25.3 billion. Big companies with lots of cash are in a strong position to make acquisitions. And companies with large balances of long-term investments, such as Apple, also demonstrate a greater degree of financial stability and flexibility. Following Apple and General Electric as having the biggest money horde overall, when including long-term equivalents, are Microsoft at $114.1 billion, Alphabet at $79.6 billion, and Cisco at $65.2 billion. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News