The company is approaching investment-grade status.
Banks have approved a new $5 billion revolving credit line for Tesla Inc., the latest sign that the company is approaching investment-grade status.
According to a statement, Tesla may increase its revolving line of credit to $2 billion. Citigroup Inc. serves as the administrative agent for a five-year revolver.
The last step to being a top-notch company
Revolvers are similar to credit cards in that a company can borrow, payback, and then borrow again over time.
Tesla currently has a Moody’s High Yield rating with a positive outlook, and it only needs one more upgrade from another major credit rating agency to qualify as investment debt.
“Over the next 12 to 18 months, Tesla’s creditworthiness could approach that of Porsche, Honda, and Volkswagen, rendering its Ba1/BBB ratings obsolete despite an unprecedented auto-sector modernization cycle,” wrote Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joel Lewington.
Aside from ratings, Tesla is widely regarded as a blue-chip company, and the majority of bonds sold are unsecured, indicating that investors are not concerned about not receiving their money back.
Credit default swaps, which protect investors from default, are traded as high-quality rather than high-yielding on indices.