Credit markets / 14 Oct 2026

CoreWeave's bonds yielded 14.8% on 14 October. The average junk bond paid 8.2%.

The AI cloud builder's debt priced like a distressed name while the junk bond market as a whole stayed calm. Place the yield on the rating ladder, then scrub three years of ICE BofA index data.

14.8%CoreWeave 9.625% notes due 2032, yield on 14 Oct 2026 (CNBC via investingLive)
8.2%ICE BofA US High Yield index, effective yield, same day (FRED)

Not the 16% you may have seen: that was CoreWeave's share price drop that day. The bonds "approached 15%".

1. Guess first

Which rung of the rating ladder pays about 14.8% a year on 14 October 2026? Tap one.

2. The ladder, any day

Each bar is a whole index of US corporate bonds with that rating. The dashed line is CoreWeave on 14 Oct.

3. Three years of the same ladder

Tap or drag on the chart to move the date. Daily data, 10 Nov 2023 to 6 Nov 2026.

Show the numbers for the chosen day

4. How a price becomes 14.8%

A bond promises a fixed coupon. When fear pushes its price down, the same coupon becomes a higher yield. CoreWeave's 9.625% notes traded near 79.5 cents on the dollar on 14 Oct (Forbes, via Value the Markets).

What to take from it

Credit stress in one company is not stress in the market. On 14 Oct the whole junk index had a spread of 3.25 points over Treasuries, and the B-rated index 3.29. CoreWeave, rated B+ by S&P (per CNBC), paid roughly 9.6 points over the 10-year Treasury. That points to a price on one borrower's AI debt, not on risky debt in general. The CCC rung, the weakest, paid 17.6%, so the market saw CoreWeave nearer the bottom of the ladder than its rating says.

CoreWeave spread is approximate: 14.8% minus the 10-year Treasury yield of 5.19% that day, while the bond matures about six years out. Index data are US dollar corporate bonds; effective yield is the index's average yield to worst. Educational explainer, not investment advice.

Sources