Zero coupon convertible issuance is being reported as free financing that AI-era stock volatility has made possible. The primary filings show issuers paying real, quantifiable cash for it, and the single deal every tracker cites as proof of the record year carries a 6.25% coupon.
Below the paid line:
- The capped call cost table across Penguin Solutions, Alphabet’s Series B tranche, Tempus, and Bitdeer, with cap prices, premiums, and annualized cost
- The 51-filing EDGAR cross section of 2026 capped call issuers outside AI, and why that sector spread changes the story
- The mechanism proof, line by line, for why a capped call’s price reveals the value of the option the “0% coupon” headline treats as costless
- The convertible arbitrage buy side: delta hedging, gamma capture, and why dedicated arb allocation shrank from roughly 20% of a hedge fund book in 2000 to 1% to 2% today, even as issuance sets records
- The exact falsifier threshold: under 2% of face kills this thesis, and where the four name sample sits against it today
