In tED magazine’s latest exclusive, quarterly Baird Research, we asked distributors a clear question: “How concerned are you about your company’s outlook in the following markets: Residential and Commercial?”
While the results varied, the level of “very concerned” remained low. The research was conducted during the first two weeks of January 2026.
On the residential side, 13% of respondents said they are “very concerned,” 39% “somewhat concerned,” and 35% “not concerned.” 13% of the respondents did not provide an answer.
In the commercial market, just 9% said they are “very concerned”, while 26% were somewhat concerned and 43% said they are not concerned about the commercial market right now.
In a similar question, we asked NAED distributors, “How concerned are you about your company’s outlook in the following product categories: Lighting and Wire and Cable?”
Lighting had an interesting response, with no respondents saying they are concerned about the market, 22% saying they are somewhat concerned, and 43% saying they are not concerned.
The gap on wire and cable was the most pronounced, with 57% of respondents saying they are not concerned about the outlook, while 26% say they are somewhat concerned and 9% say they are very concerned.
Respondents provided some of the following comments about the markets we serve and the products needed for them:
“The electric utilities continue to de-stock their elevated inventory levels and that continues to be a headwind on electric utility product sales. Additionally, the significant inflationary cost increases on electric utility material costs over the past 3-4 years is impacting electric utility workplan budgets and is another headwind. We feel electric utilities have not increased their budgets in terms of inflation-adjusted-real-dollars to make up for the large product cost inflationary increases, so utilities are spending the same/a bit more, but buying less product on an inflation-adjusted real dollar basis.”
“We’ve been consistently strong since Q2. Expect more infrastructure opportunities in 2026 to help support continued growth.”
“Decent order book to start the year off which is critical with all of the uncertainty.”
“We have seen volume increase in some of our key markets, but pricing continues to be a challenge based on inventory, capacity, and soft markets, driving down selling prices. Volatility in commodity pricing (copper, aluminum, steel, and PVC) has created challenges with average costing and margins.”
“Like to see a rebound in single-family residential construction to create demand for our labor-saving products.”
“We saw significant 4Q growth… we think companies are coming off the sideline and releasing pent up demand.”
Tagged with Baird, economy, NAED, research