The trend of companies in America hoarding cash keeps growing.
The 10 U.S. companies with the most cash reported a combined $540 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments in their last quarterly reports. That's up nearly 3.7% in just the last quarter.
These cash hoards are why activist investors like Carl Icahn have been pushing companies' boards to share their wealth with stockholders.
In an October letter, Icahn called for tech giant Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) to begin a $150 billion share buyback program. According to its Q3 earnings release on Sept. 28, Apple currently holds $40.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. That, according to Icahn, makes Apple ripe for a major buyback.
And that doesn't even count Apple's overseas holdings or other current assets.
The $40.4 billion Apple owns is huge, but that's only good for No. 5 on our list of top cash-rich companies.
Here's the list of top 10 "cash-rich" companies in the S&P 500, based on cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, plus how they used the cash they did spend:
Earlier this year, Money Morning's Executive Editor William Patalon III detailed how a push from activist investors like Icahn can affect cash-rich companies like AAPL - which is up about 21% since Patalon's analysis.
Here's exactly how the "Icahn Effect" puts big money in your pocket...
Related Articles: