Companies are looking to sell the most high-grade bonds in one day since March, with 15 corporations including Alphabet Inc. preparing blue-chip note sales on Monday, a sign that debt markets are stabilizing after the turmoil brought by tariff announcements early this month.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is offering about $4 billion of US high-grade corporate bonds on Monday, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The sale marks Alphabet’s first since 2020 when it sold $10 billion of notes. It’s separately planning to sell its first bonds in Europe as soon as Tuesday.
Other companies including Procter & Gamble Co., the maker of Crest toothpaste and Dawn dishwashing liquid, and D.R. Horton Inc., the homebuilder, are also teeing up sales, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The 15 offerings that are lined up for Monday would be the most in the US high-grade market by the number of issuers since March 24, when 16 companies sold debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
Average high-grade corporate bond yields surged in early April days after US President Donald Trump announced the steepest tariffs on US trading partners in more than a century, climbing to 5.55% on April 11 from 5.06% on April 3. But yields have since drifted lower, averaging 5.21% on Friday, as the US signaled its willingness to negotiate deals, and that discussions may take years. Risk premiums are similarly stabilizing.
Alphabet Leading
This week dealers are anticipating around $35 billion of sales in the US high-grade market. That’s a marked jump from the roughly $25 billion sold last week, and the $6 billion sold the week Trump announced the tariffs.
Alphabet is looking to sell debt in as many as four parts, one of the people said. The longest portion of the sale, a 40-year bond, may yield between 1 percentage point and 1.05 percentage point more than Treasuries, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.
The search engine company had more than $95 billion of cash and marketable securities on its books as of March 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. But selling bonds can reduce its cost of capital, according to a note from Bloomberg Intelligence’s Robert Schiffman and Alex Reid. It may signal bigger future share buybacks and investments in artificial intelligence, they added.
