Investors want it; institutions want it, and companies are starting to react.
The question now is what are you going to do with it. Many companies now have the rare opportunity to make long-term investments or return large values back to shareholders while still having sufficient cash left to grow and finance their business.
Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to post record earnings.
Companies were shy, ... they are definitely doing more.
The bulge in cash is permitting companies to simultaneously finance record levels of stock buybacks and dividends,
There's some question of 'did the companies lowball the numbers?'