A Look Into Apple's Debt

Over the past three months, shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) moved higher by 56.13%. Before having a look at the importance of debt, let's look at how much debt Apple has.

Apple's Debt

Based on Apple’s financial statement as of July 31, 2020, long-term debt is at $94.05 billion and current debt is at $18.68 billion, amounting to $112.72 billion in total debt. Adjusted for $33.38 billion in cash-equivalents, the company's net debt is at $79.34 billion.

Investors look at the debt-ratio to understand how much financial leverage a company has. Apple has $317.34 billion in total assets, therefore making the debt-ratio 0.36. Generally speaking, a debt-ratio more than 1 means that a large portion of debt is funded by assets. As the debt-ratio increases, so the does the risk of defaulting on loans, if interest rates were to increase. Different industries have different thresholds of tolerance for debt-ratios. A debt ratio of 40% might be higher for one industry, whereas average for another.

Importance of Debt

Debt is an important factor in the capital structure of a company, and can help it attain growth. Debt usually has a relatively lower financing cost than equity, which makes it an attractive option for executives.

However, due to interest-payment obligations, cash-flow of a company can be impacted. Equity owners can keep excess profit, generated from the debt capital, when companies use the debt capital for its business operations.