Strategic Advice Dealing with a dramatic market shift

It always helps to be at the forefront of adapting to changes in the market or in your industry. Your relationship manager can work with you to review the key performance indicators you’re likely already measuring routinely to get a first indication that something is changing, and in what direction.

A metric such as production lead time, or the time it takes from initial customer order to final delivery, might serve as such a signal. An increase in lead times you can’t explain on your own factory floor may mean a bottleneck is happening upstream in your supply chain. Is it a temporary disruption, or is one of your suppliers having to deal with a new, permanent government regulation? The sooner you find out, the faster you can adapt.

External signals can provide a heads-up to a shifting market before those changes become dramatic. An uptick in new competitors entering your market or unusually aggressive pricing by existing competitors might be signs that a significant shift is about to happen in your industry.

Media coverage can also be a good signal of changing market dynamics. If you notice a trend first reported in specialized industry reports that then makes the jump to mass-market media, there’s a good chance you’re ahead of a significant shift.

Your company’s relative level of risk tolerance will shape its response to any dramatic market shift. Those with a high risk tolerance may choose to invest heavily in new technologies to automate a process such as order fulfillment in response to a surge in e-commerce activity. Or they may be more aggressive in developing a new product or entering different geographic markets to mitigate a risk or take advantage of an opportunity.

A new opportunity led to a major expansion for Kentucky-based aluminum recycler Owl’s Head Alloys in 2023. Company leaders realized that the announcement by Aluminum Dynamics of a new facility in Mississippi to roll thin sheets of metal for cans had the potential to spark dramatic industry growth along the Gulf Coast. Owl’s Head won a competitive bid to partner with Aluminum Dynamics to process its scrap, which required Owl’s Head to invest heavily in a new facility of its own nearby.

Along with the inherent risk of building a new facility in a new territory with a new partner, the investment was particularly challenging because Owl’s Head was highly leveraged from prior transactions establishing the company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). However, by making use of a deep understanding of ESOPs, the aluminum recycling industry, and the Owl’s Head business in particular, the company’s banking team at Truist was able to help secure a $57 million senior credit facility that fully funded the construction.

The ability to seize the opportunity presented by a dramatic market shift has the potential to double the size of Owl’s Head over the next several years, the company believes.

Companies with lower risk tolerance and relatively greater resources might take a different approach, such as rebalancing their product portfolio to better match the new environment.

That was the strategy that Truist client and national cable television network INSP had in the face of rapidly increasing competition from other content providers and the consolidation of distribution outlets. INSP knew it needed to diversify its holdings, but as a company known for family-friendly values and carrying no debt, it was wary of an overly aggressive strategy.

With the help of experts from the Media, Telecom & Entertainment Investment Banking division of Truist Securities, INSP bought a portfolio of 40 broadcast stations in 12 markets across the United States, doubling its revenue to $400 million and opening up new sources of income.

Truist connected INSP to the partners and resources that matched both its goals and its lifecycle stage in part because the relationship team had such a good understanding of the company’s strengths and goals.

In 2025, industry experts observed that tariff-related market turmoil prompted an increase in plans for exits or leadership transitions among later-stage companies. Particularly among founders or executives who had already had to maneuver through the dramatic shifts of the pandemic and the earlier Great Recession, there was a desire by some to avoid the risks of another cycle of major disruption altogether.

For companies or owners seeking such a change, active consultation with your banking team remains critically important. Your Truist relationship manager can help you analyze the best exit options, be that a merger, sale, or leadership transition, and the financial implications of each.

No matter your size or risk profile, when you’re crafting a strategy in response to a market shift, your Truist relationship manager will help you consider both the short-term and long-term implications. Consider how mid-size, growth-stage manufacturing companies might have responded to the rapid rise in inflation in 2021 and 2022 that happened alongside both supply-chain bottlenecks and geopolitical tensions.

Short-term strategies included shifting to domestic suppliers, even at a higher cost, to reduce the risks of international shipping delays or disruptions. These costs in some instances were offset with price adjustments characterized as temporary surcharges that customers would be more likely to tolerate.

As inflation persisted, a long-term solution would have been to invest time and money in building a broader supplier network that would be beneficial even after price increases subsided and provide more resilience to future supply shocks. Another would be to study and implement new automation techniques to reduce labor costs and increase efficiency.

When conditions change dramatically in your own market, make sure your response aligns immediate needs with more enduring goals. Keep in mind, though, as you implement your short-term strategy that those changing conditions may call for you to update your long-term priorities, so be open to adjustments.

Truist’s holistic advisory approach offers clients an additional layer of expertise when it comes to identifying financial challenges and solutions. By taking advantage of business lifecycle strategies and industry knowledge, companies can both survive and prosper in changing environments.