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Summary: A company with large cash piles may seem rich on paper, but the reality may be completely different. We look at five such companies that hold over 60 per cent of their assets in cash, and what it means for investors.
At first glance, a company sitting on a large pile of cash may seem appealing. However, this doesn’t mean that this cash is ‘free’.
Take the case of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), for instance. Presently, it has 74 per cent of its assets across cash, bank balances and current investments. IndiaMART, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and Honeywell Automation all cross 60 per cent too. On paper, these look like five of the safest balance sheets on the market. In practice, a chunk of that cash is not free for shareholders to use.
Here, we look at the reasons why these companies maintain large cash piles and what this means for investors.
Our methodology
To get our desired list of companies, we applied the following filters:
- Non-financial companies with a market capitalisation of more than Rs 10,000 crore
- At least five years of listed history
- Liquid assets exceeding 60 per cent of the company’s total assets
Financial companies have been excluded since such assets sit inside their normal business, rather than surplus capital.
After applying the above filters, we were able to get a list of five companies, as summarised in the table below.
5 companies sitting on a big fat pile of cash
They hold more than 60 per cent of their assets in the form of cash
| Company | Liquid assets as a % of total assets | FY21-FY26 revenue CAGR (%) | FY21-FY26 PAT CAGR (%) | Stock rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Energy Exchange | 74 | 16 | 19.2 | 5 |
| IndiaMART InterMESH | 67 | 18.6 | 11.1 | 4 |
| GSK Pharmaceuticals | 64 | 3.7 | 23.7 | 4 |
| Pfizer | 63 | 2.4 | 7.7 | 4 |
| Honeywell Automation | 61 | 9 | 2.7 | 4 |
IEX: Some of the cash is business plumbing
IEX's 74 per cent ratio looks the most dramatic, and it is also the easiest to misread.
In FY26, the exchange held Rs 1,692 crore in current investments but just Rs 36.5 crore in cash and cash equivalents, of which slightly over Rs 23 crore sat in settlement accounts. It also carried Rs 975 crore in the form of other current financial liabilities.
An exchange is not an ordinary company. Member margins and settlement money show up as assets, with a matching liability sitting on the other side. IEX also runs a ‘Settlement Guarantee Fund’, part of which must stay in safe, liquid instruments by rule.
So the headline number mixes the company's own money with liquidity the market needs to function. Revenue and profit both grew at about 16 to 19 per cent a year between FY21 and FY26, and the asset-light exchange model does throw off real surplus cash. But investors should credit IEX for that operating cash generation, not for the settlement float sitting alongside it. The 74 per cent figure overstates the cushion by a wide margin.
Pfizer: Cash-rich by design
Pfizer has carried a heavy cash pile for years. Liquid balances were 49 per cent of assets in FY19, 50 per cent in FY20 and 63 per cent by FY26. This is not a sudden windfall.
The listed Indian business is lighter than the label ‘pharmaceutical manufacturer’ suggests. Against a revenue of Rs 2,520 crore in FY26, Pfizer held only Rs 136 crore in property, plant and equipment and spent about Rs 25 crore on fixed assets that year. Growth here comes from launches, wider distribution and commercial tie-ups, not new factories.
That combination, a profitable portfolio with low reinvestment needs, explains the deposits. Pfizer generated Rs 968 crore of operating cash in FY26 and ended the year with Rs 3,111 crore of liquidity. But revenue grew just 2.4 per cent a year over FY21-26, while interest income alone added Rs 166 crore in FY26. The cash is safety, and it is also a symptom: the Indian business has not found enough high-return uses for its own profits.
To be fair, Pfizer does return cash. It paid about Rs 752 crore in dividends in FY26, having declared Rs 165 a share for FY25 and recommended Rs 75 a share since. Shareholders do see the money. The real test is whether payouts stay this generous as a mature, slow-growing business keeps refilling the account faster than it can spend it.
Honeywell Automation: Industrial outside, capital-light inside
Honeywell Automation sells automation systems, building solutions and engineering services, but the listed entity is not a conventional factory-heavy manufacturer. It works as a system integrator in India and provides engineering services and contract manufacturing to its parent. That kind of project execution needs working capital, not fixed assets: property, plant and equipment was just Rs 97 crore in FY26.
This structure has piled up deposits steadily. Liquid balances rose from Rs 1,797 crore (45.5 per cent of assets) in FY21 to Rs 3,806 crore (61.1 per cent) in FY26. The company says these deposits can be withdrawn without notice or penalty.
Here the capital-allocation question turns sharper. Between FY22 and FY26, profit after tax rose from Rs 339 crore to Rs 525 crore, but the dividend rose only from Rs 90 to Rs 110 a share. Net worth grew from Rs 2,837 crore to Rs 4,463 crore, while return on net worth peaked at 15.6 per cent in FY24 and slipped to 12.7 per cent by FY26.
That fall is not proof of value destruction by itself. FY26 revenue rose 12 per cent while profit barely moved, so margin pressure, not the cash pile, caused the slowdown. But the large, unused cash sits harder to defend once returns start slipping. Management points to automation, energy transition and export opportunities, all real, but the annual report does not connect the Rs 3,806 crore treasury to a specific acquisition or capacity plan. Until it does, that cash is optionality, not demonstrated value.
What this means for you
Start by working out how much of the reported cash is truly surplus, after subtracting debt, operating float, restricted balances like IEX's settlement fund and the working capital the business genuinely needs to run. Only what is left over is shareholders' cash.
Then value the operating business on its own. If you strip out surplus cash from the market capitalisation, strip out the interest it earns from profit too, or you end up counting the same rupee twice.
A large cash balance can be a genuine cushion, or a decades-long habit of collecting profit that management has not found a way to deploy. The five companies in our screen sit at different points on that spectrum. IEX's cash is mostly structural. Pfizer's is a slow-growth business returning what it can. Honeywell's is the one that most needs an answer, and does not have one yet.
Also read: When the market ignores companies drowning in cash
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