Costco Wholesale Corp (COST)

Cash ratio

		Sep 1, 2024	May 12, 2024	Feb 18, 2024	Nov 26, 2023	Sep 3, 2023	May 7, 2023	Feb 12, 2023	Nov 20, 2022	Aug 28, 2022	May 8, 2022	Feb 13, 2022	Nov 21, 2021	Aug 29, 2021	May 9, 2021	Feb 14, 2021	Nov 22, 2020	Aug 30, 2020	May 10, 2020	Feb 16, 2020	Nov 24, 2019
Cash and cash equivalents	US$ in thousands	9,906,000	10,404,000	9,095,000	17,011,000	13,700,000	12,493,000	12,970,000	10,856,000	10,203,000	11,193,000	11,819,000	12,751,000	11,258,000	10,226,000	8,637,000	13,590,000	12,277,000	10,826,000	7,786,000	9,027,000
Short-term investments	US$ in thousands	1,238,000	1,095,000	1,226,000	853,000	1,534,000	1,215,000	735,000	817,000	846,000	638,000	477,000	725,000	917,000	900,000	617,000	833,000	1,028,000	948,000	929,000	993,000
Total current liabilities	US$ in thousands	35,464,000	35,361,000	34,688,000	36,768,000	33,583,000	31,708,000	32,516,000	33,067,000	31,998,000	31,845,000	31,545,000	33,342,000	29,441,000	27,982,000	26,564,000	32,667,000	24,844,000	22,779,000	22,695,000	26,265,000
Cash ratio		0.31	0.33	0.30	0.49	0.45	0.43	0.42	0.35	0.35	0.37	0.39	0.40	0.41	0.40	0.35	0.44	0.54	0.52	0.38	0.38

September 1, 2024 calculation

Cash ratio = (Cash and cash equivalents + Short-term investments) ÷ Total current liabilities
= ($9,906,000K + $1,238,000K) ÷ $35,464,000K
= 0.31

The cash ratio of Costco Wholesale Corp has shown some fluctuations over the past few quarters. The ratio measures the company's ability to cover its short-term liabilities using its cash and cash equivalents.

As of Sep 1, 2024, the cash ratio was 0.31, indicating that the company had $0.31 in cash and cash equivalents for every $1 of current liabilities. This ratio increased to 0.33 by May 12, 2024, before decreasing slightly to 0.30 by Feb 18, 2024.

The highest cash ratio observed in the dataset was 0.54 on Nov 22, 2020, suggesting that Costco had a relatively strong cash position relative to its short-term obligations at that time. On the other hand, the lowest cash ratio of 0.30 was recorded on Feb 18, 2024.

Overall, the cash ratios fluctuated within a range between 0.30 and 0.54 over the period covered by the data. It is important for investors and analysts to monitor changes in the cash ratio as it indicates the company's liquidity and ability to meet its short-term financial obligations using its available cash resources.