At the rate the automaker is moving, Tesla seems to be making headlines every single day. Earlier this week, Tesla (NASDAQ:$TSLA) was forecast to raise roughly $1.5 billion to increase production of its new Model 3 vehicle. And on Friday, Tesla launched its first high-yield junk bond at $1.8 billion.
To put this into perspective, this is $300 million more than expected and at a yield of 5.25%, according to Informa Global Markets. As if there wasn’t enough evidence that the demand for the $35,000 Model 3 vehicle is high, this greater-than-expected amount just confirmed it.
According to analysts, the offering was forecast to be eight-year notes, non-callable for three years, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:$GS) was to take on the role of the main underwriter. Analysts noted that S&P rated the bonds negative B and Moody’s B3.
It’s worth noting that, in its effort to manufacture electric cars, Tesla has burned through billions of dollars. In fact, in the second quarter alone, the company burned through $1.2 billion.
The debt pricing came amongst a drop this week in the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG), which was down more than 1% and less than a percent higher for the year as of Friday afternoon.
With this, it is all the more surprising that Tesla would be able to raise more money than originally forecast, and at such a reasonable yield for a company that has such a risky balance sheet.
It “speaks to the sheer insanity found in the high yield market to have a deal like this upsized with terms so unappealing to investors,” said Larry McDonald, who is the author of The Bear Traps report newsletter. “The deck is stacked for Tesla in bond deal terms, congrats to Elon Musk.”
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