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Remember Google
Authored by: AlexWright on Friday, November 02 2012 @ 05:08 AM EDT
Liabilities are more than just debt though.

That would include pension plans, stock, guarantees, the
cost of making everybody redundant, any rental agreements on
property etc.

I can't imagine why they could keep significant debt on
their books with that much cash to hand, unless they were
using it to avoid tax in some fashion.

Even if it was all bank debt, the moment a bank tried to put
pressure on them, they would just repay in full.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Debt is a subset of liability
Authored by: Tolerance on Friday, November 02 2012 @ 06:34 AM EDT
I'd hoped to avoid discussing this. It makes peoples' eyes glaze over. But here goes:

Liabilities are (as you clearly know) Assets less Equity. Even an engineer knows that. But while all debts are liabilities, not all liabilities are debt.

Debt is a liability incurred when money has been borrowed. Apple does not borrow money. Specifically, absolutely Apple runs a debt-free balance sheet. It's well known that Apple has been run debt-free since Steve Jobs retook power back in the nineties, so it can free up cash more easily than its competitors.

Just for example, can I refer you to Seeking Alpha of 16th. October which states:
"Of course, it doesn't hurt the company is debt free ..."

That's not the same as having no liabilities.

---
Grumpy old man

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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