Around four months after its public debut, SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) holds approximately six times as much cash and cash equivalents as Tesla(NASDAQ: TSLA).
More precisely, the space exploration company has $93.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents, while the carmaker has only $15.2 billion, according to data Finbold retrieved from CNBC on October 28.
The 515% ($78.3 billion) difference in the two companies’ financial positions, however, excludes short-term investments, which can significantly change the picture of a company’s overall liquidity.
SpaceX vs. Tesla: Which company has more cash?
Indeed, SpaceX holds an additional $6.5 billion in short-term investments, bringing its combined cash and short-term investments to roughly $100 billion.
At the same time, Tesla’s corresponding figure stands at $43.5 billion, once another $28.3 billion in short-term investments is included. Consequently, SpaceX’s total cash and short-term investments amount to approximately 2.3 times Tesla’s, rather than six times.
The distinction is important. Namely, cash and cash equivalents represent immediately available funds and highly liquid assets, but short-term investments are a separate category that likewise provides both companies with substantial liquidity reserves.
SpaceX is among the largest cash holders in the country
SpaceX’s $100 billion total also places it among the largest corporate holders of cash and short-term investments in the United States.
For example, the already cited data puts it just behind the likes of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) with $365.5 billion, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) with $242.5 billion, and Anthropic with $131.7 billion, the last being especially noteworthy now that it is gearing up for an IPO.
Accordingly, the figures illustrate the scale of SpaceX’s financial resources compared to other publicly traded firms and its size compared to Elon Musk’s other companies, although a larger cash balance alone does not establish that a company is more profitable or has a stronger overall financial position.
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