Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)

The analyzed financial data reveals distinct trends in liquidity ratios over the reported quarterly periods. Observations on the current ratio, quick ratio, and cash ratio provide insights into the company's short-term financial health and liquidity management.

Current Ratio

The current ratio fluctuates moderately throughout the quarters, starting at 0.77 in May 2019 and demonstrating a generally stable pattern with minor variations. It dips to a low of 0.7 in January 2020 but recovers to around 0.8 in the first quarter of 2021. Subsequently, the ratio experiences a gradual decline until early 2024 but rises again, reaching 0.83 in August 2024. This indicates a consistent ability to cover current liabilities with current assets, though the ratio remains below 1, suggesting some limitations in liquidity buffer capacity.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio also shows variability but with a slightly declining trend from 0.55 in May 2019 to a low near 0.40 in mid-2024. The ratio peaks intermittently, such as 0.60 in October 2021, but overall, it reflects a reduction in the company's immediate liquid assets relative to current liabilities over time. Periods from mid-2022 to early 2024 display notably lower quick ratios around 0.40 to 0.45, indicating tighter liquidity conditions excluding inventory.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio exhibits the lowest values among the three liquidity measures, starting at 0.21 in May 2019 with a downward trend over most of the observed timeframe. After reaching a peak of 0.32 in October 2021, it decreases significantly, falling to as low as 0.08 by early 2025 before a slight recovery to 0.15 in mid-2025. This suggests that the company holds relatively limited cash and cash equivalents compared to current liabilities, emphasizing a conservative cash position during many of the periods analyzed.

In summary, the company maintains a current ratio consistently below or near 1, pointing to moderate liquidity but potential room for improvement in meeting short-term obligations comfortably. The declining trends in quick and cash ratios suggest diminishing immediate liquidity, possibly due to decreased liquid assets or increased current liabilities not offset by cash or equivalents. Overall, the financial data indicates prudent but potentially constrained liquidity management across the presented quarters.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several trends pertaining to the liquidity position as reflected by current assets, current liabilities, and the current ratio over the observed periods.

Current Assets

The value of current assets fluctuated moderately throughout the periods, beginning at $33,655 million and peaking in some quarters such as October 2021 at $57,179 million. Thereafter, a general declining trend is observable in most subsequent quarters, with some slight recoveries, ending at $45,512 million in August 2024. The data indicates variability possibly driven by operational factors or changes in working capital components.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities show a notable increasing trend overall. Starting at $43,479 million, liabilities rose continuously, reaching a peak of $69,702 million in October 2021. Following this peak, liabilities gradually decreased but remained elevated compared to the early periods, ending at $54,862 million in August 2024. The pattern indicates heightened short-term obligations around late 2021, followed by partial reduction.

Current Ratio

The current ratio remained below 1.0 throughout, indicating current liabilities exceeded current assets in all quarters. It started at 0.77 and saw a decline to a low of 0.70 in January 2020. There was an improvement from mid-2020 into early 2022, reaching a high of 0.85 in May 2025. The ratio exhibits some volatility but an overall trend of gradual improvement post-2020, suggesting enhanced short-term liquidity despite liabilities remaining high.

In summary, the data suggests that while current liabilities increased significantly until late 2021, current assets did not keep pace, resulting in a low current ratio. However, the current ratio’s improvement after 2020 denotes progress in balancing assets and liabilities to strengthen liquidity. Ongoing vigilance may be required to maintain this trajectory and manage working capital effectively.

The data reveals notable fluctuations in both total quick assets and current liabilities over the analyzed periods, impacting the company's quick ratio accordingly. Total quick assets experienced an overall downward trend from May 2019, starting at approximately 23.8 billion USD, rising to a peak near 41.6 billion USD in October 2021, before declining again to levels around 22.9 billion USD by August 2025. This pattern indicates periods of asset accumulation followed by gradual decreases.

Current liabilities presented a generally increasing pattern throughout the time frame. Starting at approximately 43.5 billion USD in May 2019, liabilities escalated with fluctuations, reaching a maximum of around 69.7 billion USD in October 2021. Subsequently, liabilities declined somewhat but remained elevated, fluctuating between roughly 46.5 billion USD and 54.9 billion USD towards the end of the period.

This interplay between assets and liabilities is reflected in the quick ratio, which measures liquidity by comparing quick assets to current liabilities. The quick ratio remained below 1.0 in all periods, indicating that quick assets were consistently insufficient to cover current liabilities fully. The ratio fluctuated between 0.4 and 0.6, with a peak of 0.6 in October 2021, coinciding with the highest quick assets level and the peak in liabilities. Following this peak, the quick ratio exhibited a declining trend, reaching a low of 0.4 multiple times before recovering slightly to around 0.53 in August 2025.

Overall, the data suggests periods of increased liquidity around late 2021, succeeded by a reduction in liquid asset coverage relative to current liabilities. The company maintained a conservative liquidity profile but did not achieve a quick ratio indicating full coverage of current liabilities with liquid assets during the observed quarters. Monitoring the stability of quick assets in relation to the relatively high and variable current liabilities will be critical for assessing short-term financial resilience moving forward.

Total Cash Assets

The total cash assets exhibit notable volatility throughout the periods analyzed. Starting at $9,040 million in May 2019, the figure generally increased, reaching peaks such as $22,406 million in October 2021 and $14,244 million in April 2021. However, there are clear downward trends observed after these peaks, with cash assets decreasing to $4,909 million in October 2022 and fluctuating around lower values through early 2025, followed by a slight recovery toward $8,145 million in August 2025. Overall, cash holdings show significant fluctuations without a stable upward or downward long-term trend.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities display an upward trend in the initial periods, increasing from $43,479 million in May 2019 to a peak of $69,702 million in October 2021. After this high point, current liabilities generally decrease and stabilize at lower levels, oscillating between $45,000 million and $52,000 million from early 2022 through August 2025. Despite periodic fluctuations, the liabilities trend suggests a reduction from the peak late in 2021 to more moderate levels in subsequent years.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio, representing the company's liquidity by comparing cash assets to current liabilities, fluctuates moderately around low values. Starting at 0.21 in May 2019, it declined to a low of 0.08 in January 2025, indicating reduced short-term liquidity at certain points. Peaks such as 0.32 in October 2021 correspond to the period of highest cash assets relative to current liabilities. Post-2021, the cash ratio generally remains below 0.20, reflecting tighter liquidity conditions, though there is a slight uptick to 0.15 by August 2025.

Overall Insights

The data reveals that while cash assets have substantial short-term variability, the company occasionally accumulates significant cash reserves. However, these peaks do not sustain, and the subsequent decline in cash balances affects the liquidity ratio. The reduction in current liabilities after late 2021 suggests improved liability management or operational changes reducing short-term obligations. Despite these adjustments, the cash ratio consistently remains below ideal liquidity benchmarks, highlighting potential areas for financial strengthening. Continuous monitoring of cash levels relative to liabilities is advisable to ensure stronger short-term financial stability.