Turns out, more than a few companies disclose inventory as a non-current asset. The tricky part is that in many of those cases, the non-current inventory is added to “other assets.” You, the financial analyst on the outside, need to dig into the footnotes if you want to find that information. 

Typically that would be a painstaking exercise — but fear not! XBRL is coming to the rescue with a dedicated XBRL tag, InventoryNoncurrent. That allows you to use Calcbench to find the item simply and quickly.

So what is non-current inventory, anyway?

One example of non-current inventory comes from Pfizer (PFE). The pharma giant reported $4.57 billion in non-current inventory at the end of 2023, compared to $10.19 billion of current inventory. The information was included in the Other Financial Information note, and included the following table:

The small print shows that this amount was included in Other noncurrent assets. 

Another example is another pharma giant, Gilead Sciences (GILD). It reported $1.58 billion in non-current inventory at the end of 2023, compared to $1.79 billion of current inventory. This information was also included in the Other Financial Information note, and included the following table:

Again, you need to squint; but the table shows total inventory of $3.37 billion distributed between current and non-current inventory. Especially interesting is the note on the bottom stating that the non-current inventory “consist primarily of raw material.” 

Merck & Co. (MRK), which reported $3.35 billion of non-current inventory in Other Assets, stated that these amounts “are comprised almost entirely of raw materials and work in process inventories.” No additional information was provided by Merck (or any other of the above companies) about the nature of these materials or inventories. 

Is non-current inventory exclusive to pharma?  

Not entirely. It’s a common line-item in the pharma industry, sure; but non-current inventory does sometimes streak across the balance sheets of other sectors, too. 

For example, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) reported $1.34 billion in non-current inventory at the end of 2023 was reported on the balance sheet, tucked away in the non-current assets section and labeled as “Long-term mill and leach stockpiles.”

The better question to ask, then, is what sorts of businesses would have inventory that qualifies as non-current? U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles defines inventory as “goods that a company holds for sale or use.” Non-current inventory would be goods that the company is holding for sale or use sometime in the long term — like, not within the current fiscal year. Raw materials, leaching stockpiles (whatever those are), and related goods would all fit the bill. Certain industries lend themselves to that more than others. 

Interested in learning more about inventory, non-current inventory, or other interesting data? Reach out to us at us@calcbench.com. Tell us what’s on your mind and how we can help.