Sunday, November 9, 2008

Their stocks are languishing, like so many others', but their cash kitties are flush. Of the 10 most cash-rich, non-financial companies, the top six are well-known tech names. A telling measure of how deep their pockets are is their current ratio, which shows their current assets relative to short-term liabilities. A ratio of less than one could indicate that a company would have trouble meeting creditors' demands. Google's ratio is 8.1. Cisco's is 2.6, while Apple's is 2.5. Intel's is 2.1, Oracle's 1.9, and Microsoft's 1.5.