Corporate America has issued approximately $34 billion in convertible bonds during the first four months of 2026, more than doubling the volume from the same period last year, according to data from Reuters reported by Detik Finance.

The surge puts the market on pace to exceed the full-year record of over $120 billion set last year, according to Bank of America Global Research and Barclays Research.

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Roughly half of the current issuance is tied to artificial intelligence initiatives.

AI Infrastructure Drives Issuance

Firms are using these hybrid instruments to fund data centers, power infrastructure, and cloud expansion, alongside rolling over pandemic-era debt.

The high-rate environment has boosted the popularity of convertibles, which offer lower coupon rates due to embedded equity options.

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"A lot of it is to build out capital expenditure, particularly AI, and that's unusual and not something we've seen in previous cycles," said Michael Youngworth, managing director and head of global convertibles at Bank of America Securities.

Large deals include a $5 billion raise from Oracle, a $4 billion offering from cloud infrastructure firm CoreWeave, and $2.6 billion from Australia-based data center company IREN Limited.

Power companies and chip makers have also tapped the market, with NextEra Energy raising $2.3 billion and On Semiconductor amassing $1.3 billion.

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Refinancing Wave Adds Momentum

Analysts stated that a wave of refinancing is also driving the activity as five-to-six-year convertibles issued during the 2020-2021 pandemic boom approach maturity.

Recent refinancings include Duke Energy's $1.5 billion offering and $900 million issued by Microchip Technology.

Health technology firm Tempus AI, which utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze clinical and genomic healthcare data, raised $400 million from a six-year convertible bond featuring zero coupon and zero principal increase at maturity.

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The trend highlights how companies are leveraging convertible bonds to secure low-cost financing for capital-intensive AI projects while managing debt maturity schedules.