This study documents a pervasive inverse relationship between asset growth rates and bond performance among non-investment and low-investment grade bonds. We argue such inverse relation holds ex ante considering a high growth rate in firm total assets results in growth in tangible assets and lowers bond default probabilities. Our empirical finding supports this hypothesis. Tangible asset growth of poorly rated bonds is negatively associated with contemporaneous bond performance and expected default probability. The finding is robust to different economic conditions and investment sentiments.