U.S. CORPS hoarding almost $1 trillion
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies are hoarding almost $1 trillion in cash but are unlikely to spend on expanding their business and hiring new employees due to continuing uncertainty about the strength of the economy, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.
Nonfinancial U.S. companies are sitting on
$943 billion of cash and short-term investments, as of mid-year 2010, compared with
$775 billion at the end of 2008,
Moody's said. This would be enough to cover a year's worth of capital spending and dividends and still have $121 billion left over
Around one quarter of the cash is held overseas and is unlikely to be repatriated to the United States, Moody's said.
only 20 companies hold a large portion of corporate cash balances, with $346 billion on their balance sheets, or 37 percent of the total, Moody's said.
Technology companies held the most cash as a sector, at $207 billion, followed by pharmaceuticals with $124 billion, energy at $105 billion, and consumer products with $101 billion, Moody's said.
Cisco Systems (NasdaqGS:CSCO - News) has the largest cash balance, at $39.86 billion
Microsoft (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) is second with $36.79 billion
Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) has the third-largest balance with $30.06 billion
Oracle (NasdaqGS:ORCL - News) with $23.64 billion
Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F - News) at $21.89 billion.
