Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

The balance sheet provides creditors, investors, and analysts with information on company resources (assets) and its sources of capital (its equity and liabilities). It normally also provides information about the future earnings capacity of a company assets as well as an indication of cash flows that may come from receivables and inventories.

Liabilities represents obligations of a company arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow of economic benefits from the entity.

Apple Inc., consolidated balance sheet: liabilities and stockholders’ equity

US$ in millions

	Sep 27, 2025	Sep 28, 2024	Sep 30, 2023	Sep 24, 2022	Sep 25, 2021	Sep 26, 2020
Accounts payable	69,860)	68,960)	62,611)	64,115)	54,763)	42,296)
Income taxes payable	13,016)	26,601)	8,819)	6,552)	—)	—)
Accrued distribution and marketing	8,919)	7,679)	—)	—)	—)	—)
Current portion of finance leases	538)	144)	165)	129)	79)	24)
Other current liabilities	43,914)	43,880)	49,845)	54,164)	47,414)	42,660)
Other current liabilities	66,387)	78,304)	58,829)	60,845)	47,493)	42,684)
Deferred revenue	9,055)	8,249)	8,061)	7,912)	7,612)	6,643)
Commercial paper	7,979)	9,967)	5,985)	9,982)	6,000)	4,996)
Current portion of term debt	12,350)	10,912)	9,822)	11,128)	9,613)	8,773)
Current liabilities	165,631)	176,392)	145,308)	153,982)	125,481)	105,392)
Non-current portion of term debt	78,328)	85,750)	95,281)	98,959)	109,106)	98,667)
Non-current portion of finance leases	692)	752)	859)	812)	769)	637)
Other non-current liabilities	40,857)	45,136)	48,989)	48,330)	52,556)	53,853)
Other non-current liabilities	41,549)	45,888)	49,848)	49,142)	53,325)	54,490)
Non-current liabilities	119,877)	131,638)	145,129)	148,101)	162,431)	153,157)
Total liabilities	285,508)	308,030)	290,437)	302,083)	287,912)	258,549)
Common stock and additional paid-in capital, $0.00001 par value	93,568)	83,276)	73,812)	64,849)	57,365)	50,779)
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	(14,264)	(19,154)	(214)	(3,068)	5,562)	14,966)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(5,571)	(7,172)	(11,452)	(11,109)	163)	(406)
Shareholders’ equity	73,733)	56,950)	62,146)	50,672)	63,090)	65,339)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	359,241)	364,980)	352,583)	352,755)	351,002)	323,888)

Based on: 10-K (reporting date: 2025-09-27), 10-K (reporting date: 2024-09-28), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-09-24), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-09-25), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-09-26).

The analysis of the financial data reveals several key trends regarding the company’s liabilities and shareholders' equity over the periods from 2020 to 2025.

Current Liabilities: Current liabilities exhibited a generally upward trend from US$105.4 billion in 2020 to a peak of US$176.4 billion in 2024, before declining slightly to US$165.6 billion in 2025. This increase was largely driven by growth in accounts payable, which rose steadily from US$42.3 billion to US$69.9 billion over the period. Income taxes payable showed notable volatility with no data initially, then sharply increasing to US$26.6 billion in 2024 before falling to US$13.0 billion in 2025. Accrued distribution and marketing liabilities appeared only in the last two years, growing from US$7.7 billion to US$8.9 billion. Other current liabilities fluctuated but remained substantial, while deferred revenue consistently increased, reflecting a gradual rise from US$6.6 billion to US$9.1 billion.
Non-Current Liabilities: Non-current liabilities demonstrated a gradual decrease from approximately US$153.2 billion in 2020 to US$119.9 billion in 2025. The decline was primarily due to reductions in the non-current portion of term debt, which decreased from US$98.7 billion to US$78.3 billion, signifying active debt repayment or refinancing strategies. Other non-current liabilities also declined from around US$54 billion to below US$42 billion. Despite the presence of finance leases, both current and non-current portions remained relatively minor components.
Total Liabilities: Total liabilities increased overall from US$258.5 billion in 2020, peaking at US$308.0 billion in 2024, followed by a decrease to US$285.5 billion in 2025. This pattern suggests periods of both expansion and consolidation in debt and other obligations.
Shareholders' Equity: Shareholders’ equity showed fluctuations over the period with an initial decline from US$65.3 billion in 2020 to a low of US$50.7 billion in 2022, followed by recovery and growth to US$73.7 billion in 2025. This improvement was supported by a steady rise in common stock and additional paid-in capital, which nearly doubled from approximately US$50.8 billion to US$93.6 billion, indicating equity financing activities. Retained earnings, however, shifted from positive US$14.9 billion in 2020 to negative US$19.2 billion in 2024 and slightly improved to negative US$14.3 billion in 2025, representing accumulated losses or distributions exceeding earnings. Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) remained negative or modest with some variation, partially offsetting equity gains.
Overall Financial Position: The total of liabilities and shareholders’ equity rose from US$323.9 billion in 2020 to a peak of approximately US$365.0 billion in 2024, then slightly decreased to US$359.2 billion in 2025. The increasing size of current liabilities alongside relatively lower non-current liabilities suggests a shift toward more near-term obligations. The growth in shareholders’ equity, particularly through paid-in capital, may reflect efforts to strengthen the capital base despite challenges evident in retained earnings.

In summary, the financial data indicates a complex dynamic with increasing current liabilities and total obligations peaking in 2024 followed by a partial reversal. The company has pursued debt reduction in the long term but faces challenges in profitability as indicated by negative retained earnings. Equity increases signal capital injections which improve the balance sheet strength and provide a degree of financial stability.

Download chart

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity