Large-cap U.S. corporations are funneling record amounts of capital into growth initiatives, even as cash balances swell to unprecedented levels. According to a new benchmark report from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analyzing fourth-quarter 2025 data, the total cash pile for the Russell 1000 has climbed to $2.2 trillion.
However, despite this absolute growth, the cash-to-enterprise value (EV) ratio has drifted toward a 20-year low of 3.8%, reflecting a market where companies are aggressively deploying every incremental dollar of operating cash flow back into their businesses.
Capex surge and margin optimism
The primary driver of the capital deployment is a massive 21.2% year-over-year surge in capital expenditures, which reached $1.2 trillion in the final quarter of 2025. The aggressive investment cycle suggests that management teams remain highly optimistic about the forward path for profitability.
Consensus estimates project that net margins will expand to approximately 15.3% over the next twelve months. Companies are increasingly prioritizing long-term scale and physical infrastructure over short-term liquidity, even as the broader macroeconomic environment remains clouded by geopolitical volatility.
Morgan Stanley has identified a select group of cash-rich leaders with market caps exceeding $50 billion, including ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX), and CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD), that possess the robust balance sheets necessary to withstand a prolonged market correction.
As free cash flow (FCF) generation holds steady at $1.6 trillion, these firms are effectively insulated from the rising cost of capital, allowing them to maintain their investment trajectories regardless of central bank policy shifts.
source https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/what-are-us-companies-doing-with-cash-4586546
