Apple's cash hoard swells to $237.6 billion, a record

Apple (AAPL)'s enormous cash hoard grew to $237.6 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, up $6.1 billion from the previous quarter.

If the company's massive cash pile was its own company, it would be the seventh largest in the S&P 500 and the fourteenth largest public company in the world.

The tech giant reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, and sold more iPhones than expected. The stock briefly jumped after hours before settling down 2 percent.

The company's cash reserves have long fueled speculation of acquisitions that Apple might make.

Last quarter, Apple's enormous cash holdings shrunk for the first time in seven quarters. At the time, Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices estimated that if Apple's cash hoard was its own company, it would be the 11th largest company in the S&P 500 (^GSPC).

—CNBC's Juan Aruego, Steve Kopack and Anita Balakrishnan contributed to this report.

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