According to the Current ratio, the company's ability to pay back its short-term
liabilities (debt and payables) with its short-term assets (cash, inventory,
receivables) has been constantly increasing since inception. However, while this
metric usually gives a sense of the efficiency of a company's operating cycle or its
ability to turn its product into cash, in this case it is mostly due to a large increase
in cash and cash equivalents in the form of government contracts. However,
despite the fact that the large cash reserves are not a direct result of A123’s
operating cycle, they do indicate that the strong government and investor backing
will allow them to be more flexible in their expenditures and continue to expand
even while unprofitable.