Apple now has $237.1 billion in cash on hand

KEY POINTS

• Apple now has $237.1 billion in cash on hand.
• The company has upped its spending on original content in recent months.
• The release comes with Apple's fourth-quarter earnings report released Thursday.

Apple now has $237.1 billion in cash on hand the company reported in its fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday.

It now has about $6 billion less cash on hand than last quarter, when it reported $243.7 billion. Apple's cash hoarding has led to M&A speculation although the company has more recently shelled out on content creation, emerging markets and creating U.S. jobs.

Apple said in January it would contribute $350 billion to the U.S. over the next five years, in part through taxes for cash it plans to bring back from overseas. It also announced plans to create 20,000 new jobs in the U.S., including on a new campus.

-CNBC's Sara Salinas contributed to this report.