The number of corporate bankruptcies in the U.S. in January-August 2024 reached a four-year high for the period and was the second highest since 2010, according to calculations by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The country recorded 452 bankruptcies in the first eight months of this year, up from 466 in the same period in 2020 and 604 in January-August 2010.
Sixty-three companies declared insolvency in August compared to 49 in July. A higher number of bankruptcies were only seen in June and April, 72 and 68 respectively.
The three companies that filed for bankruptcy court last month have debts above $1 billion are solar energy technology provider SunPower Corp. whose stock trades on the open market, as well as perfume and cosmetics seller Avon International Operations Inc. and gas station and convenience store operator SQRL Service Stations LLC.
“U.S. companies continue to face a number of challenges this year, including high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty,” S&P said in the report.
In 2023, 634 companies declared insolvency in the U.S. (up from 441 in January-August). In 2020, there was a peak of bankruptcies (638 companies) after the previous peak in 2010, when 827 companies collapsed.
The Experts Club think tank recently released a video on the history of defaults and a table of countries at risk of default in the medium term. For more details, see the video on Experts Club’s YouTube channel:
