Apple ended its most recent quarter with nearly $66 billion in cash, increasing its war chest by an astounding $6.1 billion in just three months. Their cash pile is worth more than the combined market capitalization of Nokia, Research In Motion and Motorola Mobility – or half of Google’s enterprise value – explains Asymco’s Horace Dediu:
Matter of fact, Apple’s funds have grown more than tenfold in the period between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the latest quarter. Most of it isn’t so-called risk capital, the author explains, adding that if you owned $100,000 of Apple stock, “$19,000 of that would be cash and only about $80,000 would be ‘at risk’ capital”.
Oh, and more thing – Apple’s cash growth in the March quarter was so substantial that if you added component pre-payments back, the cash increase would match Motorola Mobility’s market cap. Not bad for a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy just fifteen years ago, don’t you think?
