OPTIMISM PREVAILS, CAUTION PERSISTS
The Solomon Coyle 2022-Q2 Market Outlook Report is now available. This quarter’s results show cause for both optimism and caution. Recent, strong bookings performance and a positive near-term outlook continue to collide with lingering supply chain issues and growing economic uncertainty.
Paul Holland, Solomon Coyle’s managing principal, says, “The record-high backlog index coupled with strong Billings performance suggest that dealers are finding strategies for invoicing in a supply chain-challenged and construction delay environment. The dealers continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of extraordinary challenges, but we are beginning to see some softening in pipeline activity growth. The next couple of quarters should be interesting.”
Overall, distributors remain somewhat optimistic in the face of supply chain issues and uncertainty stemming from inflationary and interest rate moves. This optimism and caution appear to be warranted.
On the optimistic side:
- The 11.3% increase in Q2’22 bookings over Q1’22 beat the 7.0% increase dealers previously forecasted.
- Dealers expect to see bookings grow another 3.2% in Q3 before growing a bit to a healthy 3.5% growth in Q3.
- Billings grew significantly with an index of 60.2 in Q2’22 over 54.0 in the previous quarter. This would indicate that dealers are finding strategies for invoicing in a supply chain-challenged and construction delay environment.
On the cautious side:
- The backlog index is at 93.2, its highest point in the three years Solomon Coyle has been monitoring it. This impacts job close-out and flushing backlog through the business.
- A slight slowdown in pipeline activity in most regions, sectors, and product categories is being signaled. This likely is due to economic caution, delayed decisions, and pent-up demand going to more normal levels.
Distributors that complete the quarterly survey receive a full report containing regional and subregional information, where available.
To view the current report, visit: www.solomoncoyle.com/dealer-market-outlook-report/. For inquiries regarding participation, email support@solomoncoyle.com.