Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 6% during January 2023.

The sales growth for the 12 months through January 2023 is 18.1%. 

“The weather was not accommodating during January.  There was heavy rain and snow in much of the country, and the number of heating degree days were well below the prior year in five of our seven regions,” said HARDI Macroeconomic & Residential Market Analyst Brian Loftus.  “Despite those challenges, distributors reported 6% sales growth versus the challenging 33% prior year gain.”

The Days Sales Outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, remains in the 43-day area.  “The DSO has a normal seasonal pattern and November through January are the high water mark for the year,” said Loftus.  “The post COVID DSO continues to be about 5 days shorter than pre-COVID. There is still no indication of reversion and pinching the cash conversion cycle.”

“Along with challenging comparisons and the slowing pace of price increases being passed through, demand headwinds include higher interest rates, lower consumer confidence and declining existing home sales,” Loftus added.  The annual growth rate line is heading towards the low teens.”