Tech companies increase bond sales despite rising financing costs

Tech Firms Boost Bond Sales Amid Rising Financing Costs

Overview

Tech companies are ramping up their bond issuance this year, despite rising financing costs. Nearly $500 billion in AI-related debt has been issued in 2026 so far, with the biggest names in the industry issuing significant amounts of new debt.

Who is borrowing and how much?

The biggest names in the pile are the so-called hyperscalers. That's industry shorthand for the companies running cloud computing at enormous scale: Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle. Collectively, they have issued approximately $200 billion or more in new debt in 2026. Amazon raised roughly $54 billion recently, while Alphabet came in at $31.5 billion and Meta at $30 billion. Oracle's issuance falls somewhere in the $18-30 billion range. Broadcom has tapped the market, and SpaceX completed a $25 billion bond deal in June 2026 that was oversubscribed.

Why the timing looks unusual

Long-term Treasury yields have reached multi-decade highs, and corporate borrowing costs tend to move with them. Analysts at Bank of America raised their 2026 hyperscaler debt forecast from $140 billion to $175 billion after the latest wave of issuance.

Projections for total AI-related financing this year range widely, from $300 billion to upwards of $570 billion. Goldman Sachs projects that total AI debt could potentially exceed $1 trillion annually in coming years.

The revenue story behind the borrowing

OpenAI predicts annual revenues of $70 billion or more by year-end 2026. Credit markets are starting to flinch, with Broadcom's 5-year CDS spiking to a record 136 basis points, reflecting heightened volatility and more perceived credit risk around one of the sector's key chip suppliers.

What this means for investors and the sector

If Goldman Sachs' projection of over $1 trillion in annual AI debt comes to pass, traditional credit markets would be absorbing a volume of issuance that could test their capacity. Key things to watch from here include whether Bank of America and others revise their forecasts again, whether CDS levels for Broadcom, Oracle, and SpaceX keep climbing, and whether demand for new tech bond deals stays as strong as it was in June.