Cash is king as U.S. quarterly reporting season gains steam

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) – With the U.S. quarterly earnings season picking up steam this week, investors have caught a glimpse of how companies are weathering the coronavirus outbreak, including the strength of their balance sheets.

With little clarity on when the U.S. economy will reopen, companies of all sizes have been bracing for months of limited revenues. Several corporations have reduced or suspended dividends, slowed capital spending and cut jobs and wages to save money.

Companies have also raced to raise as much credit as possible and preserve liquidity, allowing corporations including Intel Corp and Coca-Cola Co to end the March quarter with much higher cash balances. Delta Air Lines said in its report on Wednesday that it had raised $5.4 billion of capital since early March.

Next week, Wall Street’s most valuable companies are scheduled report their results, including Microsoft Corp , Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc , as well has energy heavyweights Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp .

The following graphic shows companies that reported this week, along with their cash and short-term investments in recent quarters.

(GRAPHIC: Who’s got cash? – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/jznvnedjxpl/Whos%20got%20cash.png)

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Richard Chang)