Microsoft issued $22.5 billion across four tranches in April, the largest single corporate offering since Verizon's pandemic-era raise. Amazon followed with $18.5 billion in May, Google with $15 billion in March. The three accounted for $56 billion of the $87 billion hyperscaler total through June, according to first-half settlement data compiled by Refinitiv.
Global corporate bond issuance reached $2.8 trillion in the first six months, surpassing the $2.6 trillion issued in all of 2023. Investment-grade spreads compressed 14 basis points to 89 bps over Treasuries despite the volume, the tightest reading since February 2022. Demand from insurance companies and pension funds absorbed the supply without distress. The average new-issue concession dropped to 3 basis points from 8 bps in Q4 2023.
The capital is moving directly into long-cycle infrastructure. Microsoft disclosed $61 billion in datacenter capex for fiscal 2025 during its April earnings call. Amazon guided to $75 billion in total capital expenditures for the year, with $52 billion earmarked for AWS expansion. Google's parent Alphabet committed $50 billion to infrastructure in 2025, up 38% year-over-year. NVIDIA reported a $22 billion backlog in AI accelerator chips, with lead times stretching into Q2 2026.
Credit markets are pricing this spending as self-liquidating investment, not speculative reach. Microsoft's 30-year bond priced at 125 bps over Treasuries, 18 bps tighter than comparable industrials. The implicit assumption: AI workloads generate recurring revenue sufficient to service long-dated fixed obligations. Insurance allocators are modeling 12-15% annual growth in cloud and AI services through 2030, using hyperscaler forward guidance as the baseline.
The structural shift is visible in maturity profiles. Weighted average tenor for investment-grade tech issuance moved to 18.2 years from 12.7 years in 2022. Hyperscalers are locking in sub-5% all-in rates on 20-year and 30-year paper while the curve remains inverted. The strategy mirrors utility financing in the 1970s: borrow long, build lumpy infrastructure, harvest cash flows over decades.
Operators should track three markers over the next six months. Second-half issuance will test whether credit markets can absorb another $2.5 trillion without spread widening beyond 100 bps. NVIDIA's October earnings call will clarify whether chip delivery schedules are compressing or extending, a direct signal on datacenter completion timelines. The December FOMC meeting will set the terminal rate path, which governs refinancing risk on the $1.2 trillion in corporate debt maturing between 2027 and 2029.
The July settlement data will show whether Meta and Oracle join the issuance wave. Both companies have filed S-3 shelf registrations totaling $35 billion and are awaiting index inclusion decisions from the major credit benchmarks. If they price before Labor Day, full-year issuance will exceed $5.5 trillion, a figure last seen in 2020 under emergency monetary conditions.