2020 Default Tsunami: Pandemic Sparks Most US Bankruptcies Since 2009
2020 Default Tsunami: Pandemic Sparks Most US Bankruptcies Since 2009 While it will hardly come as a surprise to anyone, at least the data is now official: more large US companies filed for bankruptcy in 2020 than in any year since the global financial crisis, after the covid pandemic locked down the US economy and tipped swaths of the economy into distress. The hardest hit sectors were energy, retail and consumer services, with a total of 244 bankruptcy filings according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was the most since 2009, when 293 U.S. companies sought protection from creditors. The flipside is that since the March crash, when capital markets froze, credit markets have rallied, lifting many borrowers out of distress, and yet bankruptcy experts predict another wave of filings that could start in the second quarter of 2021 as the stimulus cash runs out. Energy, retail, consumer and travel companies remain especially vulnerable - even after vaccines are distributed - following lasting damage inflicted by the virus.
2020 Default Tsunami: Pandemic Sparks Most US Bankruptcies Since 2009
2020 Default Tsunami: Pandemic Sparks Most US Bankruptcies Since 2009 While it will hardly come as a surprise to anyone, at least the data is now official: more large US companies filed for bankruptcy in 2020 than in any year since the global financial crisis, after the covid pandemic locked down the US economy and tipped swaths of the economy into distress. The hardest hit sectors were energy, retail and consumer services, with a total of 244 bankruptcy filings according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was the most since 2009, when 293 U.S. companies sought protection from creditors. The flipside is that since the March crash, when capital markets froze, credit markets have rallied, lifting many borrowers out of distress, and yet bankruptcy experts predict another wave of filings that could start in the second quarter of 2021 as the stimulus cash runs out. Energy, retail, consumer and travel companies remain especially vulnerable - even after vaccines are distributed - following lasting damage inflicted by the virus.