Corporate Bonds Are Being Cut to Junk at Fastest Pace Since 2020

 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-19/corporate-bonds-are-being-cut-to-junk-at-fastest-pace-since-2020?leadSource=reddit_wall

Ratings firms are on track to cut the most US corporate bonds to junk since the early part of the pandemic, further boosting funding costs for some companies just as economic growth is slowing.

In the first quarter, a total of $11.4 billion of bonds were downgraded to high yield status, a figure that’s about 60% of 2022’s full-year total, according to Barclays Plc research. Full-year volume is on pace to be the highest since 2020 when the pandemic sparked a massive wave of downgrades, according to the bank’s estimates.