$246B is more than a "rainy day" fund. Unless they are planning to buy Disney or a small country, they should return some of that money to their shareholders.
They could pay out half of their fund and still make do with $123B in the bank.
They could pay out half of their fund and still make do with $123B in the bank.
They are returning a lot of money to their shareholders: through dividends and share buy-backs. They plan to have returned $250 billion in capital to the shareholders by the end of march 2018.
They are also partly limited in their options: most of the cash and equivalents is stuck abroad, and subject to a 35% tax if repatriated to the US. It doesn't make sense for their shareholders to repatriate that money if a tax holiday (which means they would pay around 10% instead if history is any guidance) is very likely in the near future. In the mean-time they can borrow to finance the capital returns, but it would be unwise to overdo the borrowing.