JPM Daily Credit Strategy Update: 2Q26 and 1H26 HG credit ratings back on the upswing in what is already the highest quality market in over a decade; Curveball published

Research evidence excerpt

JPM Daily Credit Strategy Update: 2Q26 and 1H26 HG credit ratings back on the upswing in what is already the highest quality market in over a decade; Curveball published

Nathaniel Rosenbaum, CFA AC (1-212) 834-2370 Pavan D Talreja, CFA (1-212) 834-2051 North America Credit Research J P M O R G A Nnathaniel.rosenbaum@jpmorgan.com pavan.talreja@jpmchase.com

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC J.P. Morgan Securities LLC 08 July 2026

Silvi Mantri (1-212) 834-7239

silvi.mantri@jpmchase.com

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

JPM Daily Credit Strategy Update

2Q26 and 1H26 HG credit ratings back on the upswing in what is already the highest quality

market in over a decade; Curveball published

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We published our US HG Credit Ratings Review: 2Q26 and 1H26 recap this morning:

In 2Q26, $227bn of debt was upgraded while just $49bn of debt was downgraded, leading to net upgrades of $179bn, the most

since 1Q24. The upgrade/downgrade ratio rose sharply to 4.60x in 2Q26, the highest since 2Q24. This brought the 1H26

upgrade/downgrade ratio from the edge of parity in 1Q to 2.2x now, modestly above the FY25 ratio of 1.9x.

The index ratings composition is still very healthy given that issuance was skewed towards higher quality along with some

moderate upward rating bucket migration from the upgrades. BBB debt is just 43.1% of the index, the lowest since 2011, with

BBB- debt specifically at a record-low share of just 7.1%. The A rated share of the index at 46.1% is close to the highest since

2011, though it has come down slightly from 46.4% as of YE25.