The U.S. bond market just became a lot less forgiving for companies that need to refinance. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.31% Monday, its highest level since 2002, while borrowing costs for weaker corporate borrowers have surged even more.
For investors, that creates a less obvious risk: companies can carry perfectly manageable debt today but face a much larger interest bill when that debt matures and must be replaced.
Boeing Carries Cheap Legacy Debt
Boeing (NYSE:BA) ended 2025 with about $54.1 billion of debt, including $5.9 billion of unsecured debt carrying coupons between 2.2% and 2.5% and coming due through 2026. Its debt also includes $5.1 billion carrying coupons between 2.6% and 3.2% and maturing through 2030.
Those coupons look attractive compared with today’s market.
The problem is what happens when Boeing has to refinance. The company is already paying heavily to service its balance sheet: interest incurred was nearly $3 billion in 2025.
And while Boeing’s improving aircraft deliveries and cash generation could help reduce leverage, a prolonged period of elevated yields would make refinancing more expensive.
Ford’s Debt Clock Is Bigger
Ford (NYSE:F) faces an even larger refinancing machine through Ford Motor Credit.
Ford Credit faces a substantial refinancing schedule, with $51.8 billion of debt maturing in 2026, followed by $30.8 billion in 2027 and $23.8 billion in 2028, according to its 2025 10-K. That makes replacing older debt particularly important if borrowing rates remain elevated.
The coupons vary widely. Ford Credit has notes carrying rates such as 4.867% due in 2027, 6.125% and 5.625% due in 2028, and 5.125% due in 2029.
More importantly, Ford is already showing investors what the new funding environment looks like. In August, Ford Credit issued $1.5 billion of three-year notes at a 5.431% coupon.
That is the refinancing math investors should watch.
Warner’s Complicated Debt Situation
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) had $32.8 billion of debt at the end of 2025, with roughly $16.5 billion scheduled to mature in 2027, according to its 2025 10-K. Some of that debt carried relatively low legacy interest rates, making refinancing costs particularly relevant as the newly combined company takes on a much larger debt burden.
Paramount Skydance has now completed its roughly $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a combined company with roughly $80 billion of net debt. The financing itself has already tested investors’ appetite: Paramount raised $52 billion in debt, with some portions carrying yields around 9%.
Shareholders are likely wondering: How much more expensive will the next dollar of debt become?
With the 10-year Treasury above 5.3% and the weakest corporate borrowers facing borrowing costs around 17%, every refinancing decision now matters more.
For Boeing and Ford, improving cash flow could soften the impact. For the newly combined Paramount business, however, the debt burden itself is becoming an investment thesis — making leverage, refinancing costs and deleveraging progress key catalysts to watch.
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