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Working capital and the current ratio
Current assets minus current liabilities, why some big companies run below zero, and the figures for every company.
The short answer
Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities: what a company has that will turn into cash within a year, less what it owes within a year. The current ratio divides the two instead. Across the 86 companies in the table below, the median current ratio is 1.13, and 31 have more current liabilities than current assets, Walmart among them.
The formulas
Working capital = current assets − current liabilities
Current ratio = current assets ÷ current liabilities
"Current" means expected to be turned into cash, or paid, within a year or one operating cycle. The SEC's balance sheet rules ask for a total of each when the company classifies its balance sheet that way, which most non-financial companies do.
- Current assets: cash, short-term investments, receivables from customers, inventory and prepaid expenses.
- Current liabilities: payables to suppliers, accrued wages and taxes, deferred revenue, short-term borrowing and the part of long-term debt due within a year.
A ratio below 1 isn't automatically a problem
Walmart reported $84.9B of current assets against $107.5B of current liabilities at the end of fiscal 2026, a current ratio of 0.79. Big retailers sell inventory and collect cash from shoppers quickly, often before they pay the suppliers who delivered the goods, so supplier payables fund a large share of their inventory. A business like that can run with negative working capital for years.
30 other companies in the table are also below 1, among them American Tower and Duke Energy. The reasons differ from company to company, and the balance sheet shows which current liabilities are largest: supplier payables, deferred revenue, or debt due within the year.
Apple reported a current ratio of 1.02: $173.9B against $169.9B. A low ratio matters more when it's falling, when the current liabilities include debt coming due, or when the business can't count on fast-turning sales.
Source: Walmart 10-K for fiscal 2026, filed Mar 13, 2026 · Apple 10-K for fiscal 2026, filed Nov 3, 2026
Changes in working capital and cash flow
When receivables or inventory grow, cash is tied up and operating cash flow falls below net income. When payables grow, the opposite happens. That's why the cash flow statement has a block of "changes in operating assets and liabilities" between net income and operating cash flow.
Every company
From each company's balance sheet at its latest fiscal year end, sorted by current ratio. Banks are left out: their balance sheets don't split current from long-term.
Common questions
What is working capital?
Current assets minus current liabilities, from the balance sheet: the short-term resources a company has, less its short-term obligations.
What is a good current ratio?
There's no single right number. It depends on the business. Among the 86 companies here the median is 1.13; some large retailers run below 1 because they collect from customers before paying suppliers.
Can working capital be negative?
Yes. 31 of the 86 companies in the table have more current liabilities than current assets, including Walmart.
Why don't banks report working capital?
Bank balance sheets aren't split into current and long-term items. Their assets are mostly loans and securities and their liabilities mostly deposits, which are analyzed in other ways.
How does working capital affect cash flow?
Money tied up in growing receivables or inventory reduces operating cash flow, and growing payables increase it. The cash flow statement shows each change.
See it side by side
The same figures for two companies at once, each linked to its 10-K:
Disclosures
- Editor holdings
- The editor holds shares of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX in a long-term retirement account. The editor holds no position in any other company named on this page. As of Nov 11, 2026.
- Compensation
- Nobody paid for this page. No affiliate links on this page.
- Sources
- Each company's own SEC filings, linked next to each number.
- Last updated
- Nov 9, 2026
General education, the same for every reader. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and it doesn't consider your situation.
More in Learn and Tools · Methodology & Disclosures explains where every number comes from.