Question

A standard measure of leverage is the debt/equity ratio. According to conventional wisdom among financial analysts, a high debt/equity ratio indicates a high risk of insolvency or ultimate bankruptcy; conversely, a low debt/equity ratio indicates that the company is relatively solvent and able to meet its long-term obligations. Please see PowerPoints 59 and 60 in chapter 3 (copied below). In the case of Apple, their debt/equity ratio actually increased from 2002 to 2020. In other words, Apple carries more debt today relative to its equity than it did in 2002. However, very few people would argue that Apple is a riskier company today than in 2002. Please make an argument, supported by data, for why Apple is at least as solvent today as it was in 2002, despite its much higher debt/equity ratio. The argument should not just be supported by data, but you also need to provide either an additional keen insight (addressed to an accounting/finance professional) or do an excellent job explaining the concept to an audience member who is not an accounting/finance professional.

To whom did you address the answer above, to a professional or non-professional?

Answer 1

There are three main reasons why Apple is a less risky company in 2020 than it was in 2020:

• Apple is sitting on an enormous amount of cash. Apple has over 39 billion in cash, which is a very good amount to meet interest payments and dividend payments, making it very unlikely for the company to become unsolvent in the near future.
• Apple has a very high market capitalization, which is the total monetary value of the company stock. In fact, Apple is the number one company in the world by market capitalization, with 2.0 trillion dollars of market cap.
• The value of the stock of Apple has gone up substantially since 2002, sitting currently at 121 USD per share. This represents public confidence in the company from investors, and since Apple has good fundamentals, it is unlikely that the price of the stock will go down substantially in the near future.