Microsoft recently its first quarter revenue report, and deep within the documents, is a pretty astonishing fact. Based on the most recent information from both companies, Apple (AAPL) has more cash than Microsoft.
VentureBeat points out that while Apple closed the quarter with $24.5 billion in the bank, Microsoft is hovering around $20.7 billion when factoring cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
From the revenue report: Microsoft’s business outlook reflects a balance of risks and the likelihood of a continued economic slowdown. The trends seen late in the first-quarter are now forecasted to continue, whereas previous expectations were for the economy to improve in the second half of the fiscal year. In this economic environment, the company is focused on three main actions; working with customers to provide high value products at the lowest total overall cost of ownership, increasing focus on expense management and targeting investment into the highest priority strategic opportunities.
Microsoft is not afraid to use the current economic downturn as a reason to drastically change the focus of their company. In a very wordy way, Microsoft is preparing people for hard times. VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi runs through a few scenarios that could explain this. “Microsoft is still a cash machine in Windows and Office, but it has been pouring its money in recent years into shareholder dividends, stock buybacks, and acquisitions. Apple, meanwhile, hasn’t been as aggressive on those fronts.”
Additionally, Microsoft has been entangled in a depreciating acquisition deal with Yahoo!. If the deal were to go through though, Microsoft was hoping to finance the acquisition, and buy the company with some debt. In other words, they don’t even have enough cash on hand to buy Yahoo! outright.
While it may seem like a natural progression for Apple to surpass Microsoft in terms of “cash piles,” this is a huge deal. Many never thought they would see this day, and the speculation about what Apple is doing, or isn’t doing with that money, continues to grow. As Apple CEO Steve Jobs has mentioned, the pile of money is not burning a hole in Apple’s pocket. The current economic situation can prove to be extremely beneficial to those with cash on hand, and enough moxie to make moves during turbulent waters. Rest assured Apple’s money is being managed by some of the best financial advisers in the world. If and when the company wants to make a move with the cash, we will here about it.
Read – Microsoft Revenue Report
[MacDailyNews]
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One Comment to “Apple (AAPL) Has More Cash Than Microsoft”
cash is not how you measure a companies worth. if apple has ten million in cash and one million in research and Microsoft has one million in cash and 100 million in research it would be safe to bet that Microsoft has more money just not as much to play with because money sitting is not money producing. the fact that Mac has more cash on hand means the company is not producing efficiently.
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