Goldman extends borrowing run with $6.5 billion bond sale

(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised $6.5 billion from a US investment-grade bond sale, extending a borrowing spree that included a record debt offering earlier this year.

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The deal tested investor appetite after a surprise drop in the investment bank’s bond-trading revenue overshadowed stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings, sending its shares lower.

Being a diversified global bank, Goldman Sachs was “broadly seen favorably as a relatively safe haven type of credit,” said Tony Trzcinka, an investment grade portfolio manager at Impax Asset Management.

Pricing tightened by about 0.25 percentage point across its two fixed-rate tranches, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, putting the spread on the longest maturity due in 2034 at 1 percentage point. The offering also had a floating-rate note.

Trzcinka added that pricing on the eight-year bond was “attractive” relative to similar Goldman notes in the secondary market.

Proceeds from Monday’s sale will go toward general corporate purposes, added the person, asking not to be identified because discussions are private.

Goldman led first-quarter debt issuance among Wall Street banks with two deals, including a record $16 billion sale as it locked in historically low spreads over Treasuries. AI disruption fears and Iran war fallout have increased market volatility, making the borrowing environment more challenging.

Banks are set to dominate this week’s projected $40 billion of US investment-grade bond sales, though issuance is expected to slow for the group this quarter after $65.8 billion of notes were priced in the first three months of 2026.

“The big six US banks may have front-loaded 2026 issuance before AI and Iran concerns raised the cost of debt,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Arnold Kakuda and Nicole Castelblanco said last week in a note. “The bonds of the biggest US banks may be sensitive to stagflation anxiety, along with growing asset-quality concerns about private credit and their exposure to software loans,” they added.

Goldman’s fixed-income, currency and commodities trading revenue was $4.01 billion in the first quarter, according to a statement Monday. That was more than $800 million below the consensus of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg and 10% below year-earlier levels.

The bank also warned investors that its backlog of fees decreased slightly compared to the previous quarter.

Goldman’s sale was the only deal in the US investment-grade market on Monday.

(Updates with deal’s pricing and adds comments starting in the third paragraph.)

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