{"data":{"id":"sw_bedad9180112ad0b832c","slug":"b-riley-s-6-baby-bond-trades-at-steep-discount-yield-to-worst-climbs-to-28-93","title":"B. Riley's 6% Baby Bond Trades at Steep Discount, Yield to Worst Climbs to 28.93%","subheadline":"RILYT changes hands more than 23% below par even though B. Riley Financial could have called the notes since early 2022.","summary":"B. Riley Financial's 6% exchange-traded baby bond RILYT last traded at $19.16, a 23.36% discount to its $25 par value, pushing its yield to worst to 28.93% ahead of a January 2028 maturity.","body":"B. Riley Financial Inc's 6% exchange-traded baby bond, trading under the ticker RILYT, last closed at $19.16 on October 30, 2026, a level that puts its yield to worst at 28.93%, according to the bond's recent market pricing. The $25 par note has been callable by the issuer since January 31, 2022, but B. Riley has not redeemed it, and the security now trades 23.36% below its original principal amount, or $5.84 per unit, heading into its January 31, 2028 maturity date.\n\nThe mechanics behind that yield figure are straightforward even if the number itself is striking. RILYT pays a fixed $1.50 in annual interest on its $25 principal, a 6% coupon set when the notes were issued on January 25, 2021. At the current price of $19.16, that fixed payment works out to a current yield of 7.83%, already well above the coupon rate because the bond trades at a discount. But yield to worst accounts for more than the interest stream: it also captures the capital appreciation an investor would realize if the bond is repaid at its $25 face value, a gain of roughly 30.5% from the current price. Compressed into the roughly 15 months remaining until the 2028 maturity, that combination of running yield and principal recovery produces the 28.93% figure. Because the bond is already callable, a near-term redemption at par would actually be favorable to holders at today's price, which is why the issuer's own yield to call calculation is listed as not applicable: the more conservative, worst-case scenario for a bondholder in this situation is assumed to be holding to the final maturity date rather than an early call.\n\nA yield to worst approaching 29%, nearly four times the bond's stated current yield, is a signal that the market is not pricing RILYT as a stable, investment grade style instrument. One reading of these numbers is that investors are demanding substantial compensation for the risk that B. Riley's credit profile could deteriorate further before 2028, or that the company's ability to refinance or retire the notes at par is less certain than it would be for a higher rated issuer. The fact that the bond has gone unredeemed for roughly five years after first becoming callable also leaves open the question of the company's intentions, since baby bonds are frequently called once an issuer can refinance more cheaply, and the absence of a call here has coincided with a widening discount rather than a move toward par.\n\nFor income focused investors, the situation illustrates a basic tension in exchange-traded debt: the quarterly interest payments have continued on schedule, with the most recent ex-date on October 15, 2026, and a $0.375 per share quarterly distribution consistent with the 6% coupon. But the trading value of the underlying $25 note has fallen well below face value, meaning anyone who purchased at issuance or near par has an unrealized loss on the bond itself even as coupon payments arrive. The 52-week range on RILYT, between $22.20 and $10.35, shows how volatile that price has already been over the past year.\n\nB. Riley Financial, a Los Angeles based diversified financial services firm with investment banking, wealth management and asset management operations, has been under sustained investor scrutiny in recent years tied to its merchant banking exposures and related party dealings, pressures that have weighed on both its debt and equity securities. The common stock, which trades as RILY, fell 8.14% on the same session RILYT was quoted, closing near $4.06 and sitting just above its 52-week low of $3.92, a steep decline from its 52-week high of $11.24. B. Riley also has several other preferred and baby bond series outstanding, with coupons ranging from 5.000% to 7.375%, giving the market multiple points along its capital structure to assess the company's credit standing.\n\nThe RILYT move came during a session of broader volatility across risk assets. Large technology and semiconductor names including Intel, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices posted double-digit percentage declines the same day, while Bitcoin traded near $77,000 after slipping, according to market data, below the $78,000 level. None of that activity is directly tied to B. Riley's credit, but it reflects a market environment in which investors were broadly reassessing risk premiums across asset classes.\n\nMarket participants watching B. Riley's capital structure are likely to focus on whether the company moves to call or refinance RILYT ahead of its 2028 maturity, how the bond's price behaves around future quarterly ex-dates, and whether any changes in the company's credit standing or financial disclosures affect pricing on its other outstanding preferred and baby bond series. Trading activity in RILY call options was also noted in recent market commentary, adding another data point for those tracking sentiment around the issuer heading into the bond's final stretch to maturity.","url":"https://capitaldatawire.com/stories/b-riley-s-6-baby-bond-trades-at-steep-discount-yield-to-worst-climbs-to-28-93","category":"Bonds & Rates","article_type":"News","license":"Free to republish, in full or in part, with attribution to Capital Data Wire and a link to the original article. No fees, registration, or permission required.","quality_score":87,"human_reviewed":false,"featured_image":null,"published_at":"2026-10-31T11:24:42.919012+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-31T11:24:42.919012+00:00","is_demo":false,"attribution":"Via Capital Data Wire: https://capitaldatawire.com/stories/b-riley-s-6-baby-bond-trades-at-steep-discount-yield-to-worst-climbs-to-28-93","attribution_html":"Via Capital Data Wire."},"meta":{"demo_data":false}}