The 2026 Annual Distribution Industry Outlook
Wednesday February 18, 2026 @ 1:00 PM ET | Virtual
After last year played out much different than most expected, distributors eye a more favorable landscape for business conditions, and MDM’s 2026 Annual Distribution Industry Outlook well help level-set your expectations. This webcast on February 18 will benchmark your sales and growth outlook for the rest of 2026, review macroeconomic and distribution-specific trends, and examine the latest exclusive MDM-Baird quarterly survey insights. We’ll once again be joined by Baird Senior Research Analyst David Manthey, NetSuite VP Ranga Bodla and MDM Executive Editor Mike Hockett for the data and analysis on how to best navigate the market signals shaping 2026.
Meet the Speakers
Mike Hockett
Executive Editor
MDM
Mike Hockett is MDM’s executive editor, having joined the publication in March 2022. He oversees MDM’s editorial content and direction, coordinates with contributing authors, conducts interviews with executives in the wholesale distribution space and serves as the editorial face of MDM at industry events. He has extensively covered the distribution and manufacturing sectors since 2014. Hockett earned a degree in print journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and works from his home in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dave Manthey
Baird Senior Research Analyst
Baird
David Manthey is Baird’s Senior Research Analyst covering Industrial Distribution & Environmental Services. He joined Baird in 1995 and has covered the Industrial Distribution industry since 2000. Prior to Baird, he was with Strong Capital Management. In the 2019 StarMine Analyst Awards by Refinitiv, he was recognized as the No. 2 earnings estimator in Trading Companies & Distributors. He has been recognized by Thompson Reuters (formerly StarMine) for stock picking and/or earnings estimation in the Trading Companies & Distributors category 11 times since 2005. He was also recognized as the No. 3 stock picker in the Business and Industrial Services industry in the Wall Street Journal’s 2011 “Best on the Street” survey. David earned a BS from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Indiana University.
Ranga Bodla
VP, Field Engagement and Marketing
Oracle NetSuite
Ranga Bodla has over 20 years of combined product management and marketing experience in the software technology industry. As the Head of Industry Marketing for NetSuite, he is chartered with driving the overall strategy and go-to-market for success across all of NetSuite’s industries including Wholesale Distribution, Manufacturing, Software, Services, Non-Profit, Advertising, Media and Publishing.
This webcast is sponsored by:
