Surge in Convertible Bond Market Driven by AI Demand
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: May 20 2026
0mins
Source: Newsfilter
- Record Issuance: U.S. convertible bond issuance reached approximately $34 billion in the first four months of 2026, more than double the same period last year, indicating robust demand particularly from AI-linked companies, and is on track to surpass last year's record of over $120 billion.
- Major Financing Examples: Notable raises include Oracle's $5 billion, CoreWeave's $4 billion, and Australia's IREN Limited's $2.6 billion, primarily funding data centers and cloud infrastructure, highlighting the urgent capital expenditure needs of these firms.
- Increased Market Appeal: In a high-rate environment, convertibles have become the preferred financing tool for AI companies due to their fixed coupon payments and conversion features, exemplified by Tempus AI's $400 million zero-coupon convertible bond, reflecting investor confidence in future stock price increases.
- Risks and Opportunities: While convertible bonds attract investments in AI-related firms, risks exist as some issuers have weaker profiles; for instance, WhiteFiber raised $230 million despite a negative forward P/E ratio, yet its stock has surged nearly 60%, indicating market optimism about its growth potential.
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Analyst Views on ORCL
Wall Street analysts forecast ORCL stock price to rise
34 Analyst Rating
25 Buy
9 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 203.700
Low
180.00
Averages
309.59
High
400.00
Current: 203.700
Low
180.00
Averages
309.59
High
400.00
About ORCL
Oracle Corporation offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. The Company operates through three businesses: cloud and license, hardware and service. Its cloud and license business is engaged in the sale, marketing and delivery of its enterprise applications and infrastructure technologies through cloud and on-premise deployment models including its cloud services and license support offerings, and its cloud license and on-premise license offerings. Its hardware business provides infrastructure technologies including Oracle Engineered Systems, servers, storage, industry-specific hardware, operating systems, virtualization, management and other hardware-related software to support diverse IT environments. Its services business provides services to customers and partners to help maximize the performance of their investments in Oracle applications and infrastructure technologies.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Okta's Record Growth: Okta's stock jumped 30% on Friday, exceeding market expectations, with the CEO stating that businesses are investing more in identity security tools to tackle AI-driven security challenges, highlighting strong demand in the identity management market.
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See More
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- Shift in Capital Flows: Total trading in IGV options reached $140 million, with $120 million in call contracts, surpassing the semiconductor ETF SMH, indicating a growing preference for the software sector over semiconductors.
- Diverse Trading Strategies: While some traders opted to hedge their bullish positions with spreads, significant notional trades included multi-million-dollar sales of 90-strike calls, showcasing optimism about short-term software stock performance.
See More
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- Budget Overruns: Corporate AI budgets are being exhausted within one to two months, far exceeding expectations, forcing CFOs to make tough choices between technology and human resources, highlighting a misjudgment of AI costs by enterprises.
- Resource Allocation Shift: Leadership teams are reassessing the relationship between AI spending and employee numbers, with many companies potentially sacrificing future headcount growth in pursuit of AI efficiency, impacting overall operational strategies.
- Tech vs. Cost Comparison: For the first time, the cost of AI technology is on par with human labor, compelling companies to make difficult choices between tech investments and workforce resources, a situation unprecedented in history that could lead to fundamental changes in business operations.
- Inefficiency Challenges: Despite the power of AI technology, its inefficiency is evident, with 95% of enterprise AI usage still relying on the most expensive frontier models, necessitating optimization in model selection to reduce costs and enhance overall profitability.
See More
