Investors pull more orders as US corporate bond sales surge

Order attrition reached a 2026 high as blue-chip borrowers issued $136 billion of debt over two weeks, according to Bloomberg data.

Investors withdrew about 36% of their initial orders for US high-grade bond sales this week after final pricing tightened, twice the previous week’s rate, according to Bloomberg data.

The withdrawal rate was also well above the 22% average recorded this year. It reached 45% on Thursday, the highest level of 2026.

Advanced Micro Devices saw orders for the longest tranche of its $4.75 billion bond offering fall by more than half after the company reduced its borrowing costs.

Blue-chip companies have issued debt to finance acquisitions and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The heavy supply is making investors more selective and could limit borrowers’ ability to reduce offered yields during final pricing.

Companies issued $136 billion of new debt over the past two weeks, putting August on track for a monthly record. A Bloomberg survey of syndicate underwriters expects issuance to slow to about $20 billion next week.

Funding conditions remain favorable. Investment-grade bonds trade at an average spread of about 0.78 percentage point over Treasuries, while funds that buy the debt received nearly $3 billion of inflows in the week through Wednesday.

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