Ultra large companies can sit on large cash positions, yes, in part because they are ultra large and have enormous market caps.
Large companies sitting on large cash positions often find themselves being taken over using their own cash against them.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/03/25/american-airlines-waste-cash-flow-share-buybacks.aspxThe company I worked for was a large company, but not ultra large, and they did stock buy backs to limit how much cash we had sitting around. Some of this was because we could borrow at say 1.5% and were paying a 3% dividend. And some was to make it more difficult for any takeover to happen.
Obviously, cash spent on buy backs didn't disappear unless the stock price collapses.
And of course Apple is famous for huge stuck buy backs.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/apple-stock-buyback-dividend-earnings-multiple-yield-51578342838It may be time for
Apple to boost its dividend and scale back its mammoth stock-repurchase program.
The company has favored its buyback program in recent years, but Apple shares are no longer a bargain
after doubling in the past year .
During its latest fiscal year that ended in September, Apple bought back $67 billion in stock and paid out $14 billion in dividends. The shares, which rose $2.37, or 0.8%, to $299.80 on Monday, trade just below the record high of $300 set on Jan. 2.
Apple now trades for almost 23 times projected earnings of $13.10 a share in its current fiscal year, considerably above its average forward price-to-earnings ratio of 14 in the past five years. Its shares now yield 1%.