The average sales performance by Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) members was an increase of 4% percent during February 2023, according to the organization’s monthly TRENDS report.

HARDI distributors saw a 6% revenue boost in January. Sales growth for the 12 months through February 2023 is 16.1% percent, according to the latest report.

“Since February is responsible for the smallest share of annual revenues for each of our regions, it has not been a good indicator of market direction,” said HARDI Macroeconomic & Residential Market Analyst Brian Loftus. “The sales growth this month was challenged by being compared to a very strong 27.5% gain during February 2022 and the heating degree days during February 2023 were well below normal in four of our seven regions.”

The Days Sales Outstanding — a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills — remains in the 43-day area, Loftus said.

“The DSO usually runs a little longer during the winter months,” he said. “The DSO this month is comparable to February during 2021 and 2022.”

Loftus added in the report: “HARDI distributor’s annual sales growth reflects COVID’s impact on our economy. The COVID uncertainty squeezed the annual sales growth to the low single-digits pace during most of 2020 before it took off towards more than 20% during 2021 where it remained for more than a year. One year ago, the Fed started to put the brakes on the economy and our annual sales growth reflects that effort. The brakes are still on.”