HVAC distributor revenues up 3.5% to start 2025
HARDI members' January sales grew 3.5 percent year-over-year, according to its latest Trends report, encompassing nearly 500 distributors
Image: WSJ
HVAC distributors posted single-digit revenue growth in January, according to HARDI’s latest Trends report, which includes data from nearly 500 distributors with over 5,000 branches nationwide.
The big picture: The figure marks the second consecutive month of revenue growth, following December, in which distributors recorded the best monthly revenue growth of 2024. These figures generally serve as a proxy for contractor sales.
What’s happening: HARDI’s distributor members saw a 3.5 percent bump in January sales compared to 2024.
- “More heating degree days year-to-year helped produce sales growth in all seven of our regions during January,” said HARDI economist Brian Loftus.
Zoom out: The report also notes that payment timelines have gotten shorter, with the ‘Days Sales Outstanding’ — a measure of how quickly contractors pay their bills — dropping from around 43 days over the past few Januarys to 38 days this January.
- Additionally, Loftus noted that the 10-year bond yield is trending downward, and since mortgage rates typically follow suit, “this could have a positive impact on existing home sales and replacement demand,” he said, referring to this coming summer.
What’s next: February’s sales figures will be released early next month.
📬 Get our stories in your inbox
Keep reading
“Setting expectations means nothing if you don’t hold people accountable,” says The H.R. Guy
Early this year, Ian Schotanus gave a talk on accountability and ran real-world scenarios with contractors
“As long as we were hitting our numbers, they left us alone,” says contractor on private equity
Post Close is a monthly series anonymously highlighting the thoughts of HVAC contractors who have sold their businesses to a private-equity-backed platform
Takeaways: The EPA’s final refrigerant management rule
The rule includes three "victories" for contractors, ACCA notes