New Corporation an up$-$and$-$coming biotech company, provides the following selected financial statement information. Financial information for Benchmark Corporation a well$-$established biotech company whose financial ratios represent the gold$-$standard in the industry, is also provided.

New Corporation Benchmark Corporation

$2024202320242023$

Cash and cash equivalents $ $350,656$ $ $238,446$ $ $4,207,872$ $ $3,997,478$

Short$-$term investments $490,545353,1929,320,3558,947,541$

Accounts receivable $32,58823,137782,112766,470$

Property, plant and equipment $852,459588,19718,754,09817,816,393$

Intangible assets $2,565,8751,796,11341,054,00039,822,380$

Long$-$term investments $1,545,8561,082,09946,375,68045,448,166$

Total asset $5,837,9794,081,184120,494,117116,798,428$

Total liabilities $875,697571,36645,787,76443,215,419$

Total stockholders$$ equity $4,962,2823,509,81974,706,35373,583,010$

Net sales $ $7,865,315$ $ $5,112,455$ $ $245,253,656$ $ $240,348,583$

Operating income $1,179,7971,610,42388,291,31684,122,004$

Interest expense $39,40626,5691,373,6331,361,286$

Investment income $81,45645,9291,670,8811,523,080$

Required:

Calculate the cash holdings ratio for both companies. What conclusions do you draw about the cash holdings of New Corporation?

Calculate the investment$-$to$-$assets ratio for both companies. What conclusions do you draw about the New Corporation level of investment?

Calculate the return on investments ratio for both companies. What conclusions do you draw about the riskiness of New Corporation investments?