Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing sales by HARDI distributors increased by 2.3 percent during May 2023.

The annual sales growth for the 12 months through May 2023 is 9.1%. 

“After March was about flat and the -4% decline last month, it was nice to see some modest growth during May against a very strong prior year,” said HARDI Macroeconomic & Residential Market Analyst Brian Loftus. “We had an extra billing day during May of 2023 to help the sales comparison against the 26% gain during May of 2022.  Without the extra day, we estimate sales were off in the -2.5% area.”

The Days Sales Outstanding, a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, was 40 days in May. “Distributor sales growth is slowing but customers are not showing any strain,” Loftus said. “DSO has a seasonal pattern, so we compare it to the corresponding prior year. The DSO was 40 during April and May as it has been during April and May of 2021 and 2022. No warning signs here.”

 “May is one of the most important months of the year for AC sales at HARDI distributors and the weather was not helpful for the start of cooling season this year,” Loftus added. “Cooling degree days were off by -41% versus May 2022 and below normal in six of our seven regions.”