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A massive borrowing binge by technology giants expanding their artificial intelligence capabilities is fundamentally transforming fixed-income dynamics. Companies like Meta Platforms Inc., Nvidia Corp., and Amazon.com Inc. are leading a historic capital expenditure push, issuing hundreds of billions in corporate bonds while prompting a sharp recalibration of risk among debt investors.
The Massive AI Infrastructure Spree
To aggressively fund the buildout of advanced AI infrastructure, tech heavyweights have entered the debt markets at an unprecedented velocity.
Major players, including AMZN, Alphabet Inc., NVDA, META, Oracle Corp., and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., have issued a record $182 billion in investment-grade bonds so far in 2026.
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This staggering issuance represents an explosive surge, “up +1,300% YoY.” Furthermore, this intense corporate borrowing spree is “accounting for ~15% of total US corporate bond issuance year-to-date,” highlighting the tech sector’s massive footprint in the current credit landscape.
Investors are demanding more protection against Big Tech credit risk:
5-year credit default swap (CDS) spreads on Oracle, $ORCL, Amazon, $AMZN, Google, $GOOGL, and Microsoft, $MSFT, are up to ~75 basis points, near the highest in at least 7 years.
CDS spreads on the same group… pic.twitter.com/WJ0YiH8iiI
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 16, 2026
Surging Credit Default Swaps
This sudden rise of new leverage has triggered caution among fixed-income investors. As market participants scramble to protect their portfolios, the cost to insure Big Tech debt against default has spiked drastically.
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The 5-year credit default swap (CDS) spreads on Oracle, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are “up to ~75 basis points, near the highest in at least 7 years.”
Even when stripping out Oracle’s unique debt profile, “CDS spreads on the same group excluding $ORCL are up to ~49 basis points, the highest since at least 2018.”
Structural Market Shift
Remarkably, “both metrics have more than doubled since the start of 2025 and are now significantly above their 2022 bear market peaks.”
This rapid divergence reflects a profound environment where investors are demanding more protection against Big Tech credit risk. As corporate giants aggressively prioritize compute infrastructure over pristine balance sheets, fixed-income markets are realizing that “[t]he AI revolution is reshaping credit markets.
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Here’s how these stocks have performed in 2026.
Stocks | YTD Performance | One Year Performance |
Nvidia Corporation | 13.94% | 24.49% |
Amazon.com Inc. | 10.46% | 12.64% |
Alphabet Inc. Class C | 17.98% | 102.19% |
Meta Platforms Inc. | 3.21% | -4.09% |
Oracle Corp. | 16.26% | 13.50% |
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. | -9.28% (Since Listing) | — |
Photo courtesy: FotoField on Shutterstock.com
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