Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 24.3 percent during June 2020.

The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through June 2020 is 3.4 percent.

"The strong report this month was as expected and a welcome relief after two very challenging months," said HARDI Market Research and Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus. "We were hoping for a gain in the 20s because this month had two extra billing days than June 2019 when five of our seven regions had fewer than normal cooling degree days and two important markets struggled with very heavy rain. Even after adjusting for the number of billing days and comparing the year-to-year cooling degree days per region, the report looks like a solid start for cooling season."

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now at 42 days.

"The DSO had increased by a couple days this spring which would be consistent with an economic slowdown," said Loftus. "The DSO is now at or below where it was during June 2018 and June 2019. Maybe the increase this spring had more to do with COVID-19 operational disruptions than economic weakness or fatigue.

"This week we see GDP is down by -33 percent and HARDI distributors sales growth is 24 percent. That is quite a contrast," said Loftus. "Both these numbers are exaggerated by special factors. Both were as expected and that is a relief. Both numbers will remain under pressure while the COVID-19 risk persists. That uncertainty will suppress confidence, demand and employment, GDP growth and HARDI distributor sales."

HARDI members do not receive financial compensation in exchange for their monthly sales data and can discontinue their participation without prior notice or penalty. Participation is voluntary, and the depth of market coverage varies from region to region. An independent entity collects and compiles the data that can include products not directly associated with the HVACR industry.