By Hannah Benjamin-Cook

(Bloomberg) — Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has almost single-handedly spurred the best-ever opening quarter for corporate debt sales in Europe, even as markets face huge disruption from the war in Iran.

Corporate borrowers have raised about €145.6 billion ($168.7 billion) in 2026, by far the highest volume for a first quarter on record, according to a Bloomberg league table tracking issuance from high-grade firms across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Nearly 10% of that came just from Amazon’s €14.5 billion eight-part debt sale on March 11.

Tech giants have led the action in Europe, with Alphabet Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. taking the second and third spots in the table respectively behind Amazon, following jumbo deals in recent weeks. The trio has a more than 18% combined share of the first quarter’s corporate issuance in the region, the table shows.

“They’re so big that they suddenly just become quite a large part of the index,” said Alex Temple, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments. “That means for people who track the index, they have to buy it because it’s such a large chunk.”

The offerings from companies seeking to fund ambitious artificial intelligence projects have salvaged an otherwise tough quarter for debt markets more broadly. Overall volumes in the EMEA region have stumbled since the Middle East conflict began at the end of February.

Marketwide bond issuance in March, including from banks and governments, reached €126 billion equivalent, 19% below the amount raised in the same month last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

That’s meant the huge US tech sales haven’t overwhelmed the European market or hurt pricing, as some commentators warned last year.

Instead, there’s been a clamor for such debt, given these firms are highly rated and have low leverage, making them relative havens at a time of high risk during the Middle East conflict. It’s “very likely” that the euro credit market can absorb multiple jumbo-sized deals from these so-called hyperscalers, according to Shanawaz Bhimji, head of corporate bond research at ABN Amro Bank NV.

“Most of these issuers printed with limited concession as well. This goes to show that if you have strong credits, the level of supply can be easily covered,” he said. “Investors will scoop up high quality debt.”

Over the quarter as a whole, offerings from US firms accounted for about a third of all corporate issuance in the region, pushing France and Germany into second and third place. Yet the weighting of tech in the euro bond market is still only 1.8%, compared to 8.3% in the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

That means there’s “room there for more, definitely,” said Luke Hickmore, an investment director for fixed income at Aberdeen Investments. However, with Amazon selling maturities up to 38 years and Alphabet a century bond, he did caution that there was a risk for the long end. “Those are not massive markets, so you can find a crowding out element quite quickly.”

—With assistance from Ronan Martin.

Most Read From Bloomberg

• Goldman Traders See Signs Hedge Funds Are Capitulating on Stocks

• Government Bonds Rally Around the World on Slowdown Concerns

• Euro Poised for Worst Quarter Since 2024 as Oil Shock Bites

• Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Says S&P 500 Correction Nears End Stage