Current Assets

This figure includes cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, inventories, and other current assets that could be converted into cash within a relatively short period, usually one year. Current assets, as with other balance sheet items, are shown in millions of dollars ($M) and are current as of the last day of the quarter.

Benefit

The more current assets a company has relative to its total assets, the more liquid it is in the short term. Current assets is divided by current liabilities to get the current ratio, a common measure of short-term liquidity.

Origin

This information is found in the assets area of a company’s balance sheet. This information is updated weekly.

For the Pros

Use the following formula as a value method, when you’re looking for cheap stocks. The higher the number, the cheaper the stock:

((Current Assets Quarter 1 – Current Liabilities Quarter 1) / Market Capitalization) x 100