# Research from Professor Edward Altman on "junk bonds" is highlighted in an article exploring how the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a wave of credit rating downgrades

1 Faculty News March 20, 2020 ![Reuters logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_030503.jpg?itok=0OAgrDF0)>

Excerpt from [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-credit-agencies-an/downgrade-doom-looms-for-coronavirus-hit-firms-and-markets-idUSKBN2172G5) -- "[Ed Altman](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/edward-altman), a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business who created the Altman Z-Score to sniff out companies in financial distress, examined 350 BBB-rated U.S. companies as of the end of 2019. His research indicated that more than 30% of those companies, with $600 billion or more of bonds, should have been rated ‘junk’."

[Read More](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-credit-agencies-an/downgrade-doom-looms-for-coronavirus-hit-firms-and-markets-idUSKBN2172G5)