The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released the Q3 2020 Equipment Leasing & Finance Industry Snapshot, a resource for industry participants that is more indispensable than ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Designed for use in executive briefings and presentations, the presentation slide deck summarizes the current conditions and projections for the U.S. economy and equipment finance industry with clear, easy-to-digest charts and short narratives of key trends.
 
Among the range of details in the new release:

• The U.S. economy contracted 5.0 percent annualized in Q1 2020, the first quarterly drop since Q1 2014 and the steepest decline since Q4 2008. The contraction likely bottomed out in Q2 and the worst of the downturn also likely passed, although a full economic recovery is unlikely until 2021 or 2022.
• The collapse in consumer spending drove the Q1 GDP decline, while business investment was also exceptionally weak.
• Among the range of COVID-19’s impacts on businesses are a slowly recovering service sector as parts of the U.S. ease lockdown restrictions, nearly 3,500 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in the first half of 2020, pre-pandemic levels in equity markets largely due to the Federal Reserve’s intervention, and a potential uptick in demand in industries including medical equipment and cleaning supplies manufacturing.
• Equipment and software investment plunged 10.5 percent annualized in Q1, and Q2 declines are expected to be more pronounced. A return to growth is possible in the second half of the year should the public health crisis subside.
• New business volume growth reported in ELFA’s Monthly Leasing and Finance Index fell sharply in May, but was still slightly above its levels from a year ago on a cumulative basis. 

Prepared by Keybridge Research and updated quarterly, the snapshot is available for free download here.