Deluge of Debt Is Making Corporate America Riskier for Investors

  • April was busiest month ever for high-grade bond sales
  • Companies end up with higher debt loads amid falling sales
A Boeing 777-9 airplane on the assembly plant in Everett, on March 6.Photographer: Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg
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Blue-chip U.S. companies are borrowing money at a record pace to make up for their plunging sales. That process is making corporate bonds riskier for investors.

Boeing Co., the plane maker, sold $25 billion of bonds on Thursday, the largest offering of the year. Coca-Cola Co. issuedBloomberg Terminal $6.5 billion of notes this week. Offerings like these made April the busiest month on recordBloomberg Terminal for investment-grade corporate bond sales, totaling more than $300 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.