NEW YORK: Bond investors on Friday gave a $1.8 billion (SR6.75 billion) boost to Tesla’s balance sheet by snapping up the electric carmaker’s first foray into the US junk bond market, where yield-hungry investors have raced to lock in relatively higher returns.
Those robust returns, however, have shrunk as a strong reservoir of cash ready to deploy in the riskiest areas of the high-yield fixed income market has pushed them to near their lowest levels in three years. That has given junk-rated issuers such as Elon Musk’s US car company the opportunity to raise cash cheaply.
Tesla sold $1.8 billion of eight-year unsecured bonds at a yield of 5.30 percent, the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The bond was sold at par, according to a source familiar with the transaction, who requested anonymity because the detail was not publicly disclosed.
Tesla initially wanted to sell $1.5 billion worth of debt but enlarged the offering because of overwhelming demand, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit. The yield was slightly higher than the 5.25 percent cited at the initial launch.
Cash proceeds will help finance production of Tesla’s Model 3, which it is banking on to hit the mass-market bullseye and finally help the company turn a profit. Tesla aims to boost production to 500,000 cars next year, about six times its 2016 output.
“It’s a milestone for a company from a relative unknown to what it is today,” said David Knutson, head of credit research at Schroders Investment Management.
The company, founded by Musk in 2003, has plowed revenues back into its businesses, which now include energy storage.
At the launch of the Model 3, with a base price of $35,000, Musk warned that Tesla would face months of “manufacturing hell” as it increases production of the sedan.
The ability of the high-yield sector, which some analysts and investors consider pricey, to absorb debt supply from a first-time issuer such as Tesla suggests its resilience, at least for now.
“I won’t call it a bubble,” said Andrew Feltus, co-head of high yield and bank loans at Amundi Pioneer Asset Management in Boston. “The (market) fundamentals are pretty good.”
While the ability of Tesla to raise so much cash with such a low rating might revive memories of market bubbles such as the dot-com boom, strategists said that analogy did not apply.
“Tesla is not one of these companies,” said Stan Shipley, a strategist at Evercore ISI in New York.
Tesla raises $1.8 billion in first junk bond offering
Tesla raises $1.8 billion in first junk bond offering
Eric Trump says Saudi Arabia’s stock market reforms will attract billions of dollars
RIYADH: Eric Trump has praised Saudi Arabia’s decision to open up its stock market to foreign investors, stating that billions of additional dollars are set to flow into the Kingdom.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the businessman, who is the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, also lauded the recent development projects taking shape in Riyadh, especially in Diriyah.
The Kingdom has announced its financial markets will be open to all foreign investors from Feb. 1, with the removal of restrictions such as the Qualified Foreign Investor framework, which required a minimum of $500 million in assets under management, and the abolition of swap agreements.
Reflecting on the decision, Trump said: “Some of the new legislation allowing foreign inward investment in Saudi Arabia, I think that’s going to open up possibilities for billions of dollars to flow into the market.
“Obviously opening up the actual stock markets themselves to new foreign investment, I think that’s going to lead to more billions of dollars coming into the market. I think this is going to help with trade and tourism and so many other things.”
According to Trump, the investment environment in Saudi Arabia is getting better as time progresses, with big brands from across the world entering the Kingdom’s market to tap its potential.
Under the Vision 2030 economic diversification program, Saudi Arabia aims to attract $100 billion annually in foreign direct investments.
“Every day, the investment environment gets better and better. You’ve got the biggest brands in the world that are coming in. All of those brands are making a tremendous amount of noise,” added Trump.
A report released by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics in December revealed that foreign direct investment net inflows reached SR24.9 billion ($6.64 billion) in the third quarter of 2025, representing a 34.5 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
Trump made the comments as it was announced Saudi real estate developer Dar Global will launch two Trump-branded luxury projects in Riyadh and Jeddah with a combined value of $10 billion.
The projects include the Trump National Golf Course and Trump International Hotel in Riyadh’s Diriyah.
Commenting on the appeal of Saudi Arabia, Trump said: “The vision of the city, the vision of what’s happening in Riyadh, especially Diriyah, it’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
He later added: “The vision of what the new Riyadh is going to be, and the vision for all of Saudi Arabia as it continues to open up — you see all these great financial reforms, which should make more inward investment in Saudi Arabia inevitable. It’s incredibly exciting.”
Trump went on to say that “the best days for Saudi Arabia are ahead,” adding: “Even in the six or seven years that I’ve been coming to the country, it’s amazing what’s been built, what’s been done. And I think the country should be incredibly proud of itself.”
