Above Water

Above Water

1. Describing a company that is maintaining operations with little or no financial difficulty. It is a somewhat informal term that is used especially when a company is doing neither poorly nor terribly well.

2. Describing a company's assets when their value exceeds their book value. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles rarely allow the book value of an asset to change except in accordance with the rules of depreciation or appreciation. Thus, a book value may not state an asset's actual value. A company with above-water assets often attracts investors who have done a great deal of research into the value of its assets; these investors often stand to make a significant return on a comparatively small investment.