Large corporate bankruptcies are surging in 2025, with inflation, interest rates and policy uncertainty driving more major U.S. companies to the financial brink, according to a report from Cornerstone Research.
The 12 months ending June 30 saw 32 “mega” bankruptcies—involving companies with assets exceeding $1 billion—up from 24 in the previous period and surpassing the two-decade average of 23, according to the report. There were 17 mega bankruptcies in the first half of 2025 alone, the most recorded for any six-month stretch since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Why It Matters
This year has seen a large number of household and well-known name firms filing for bankruptcies, including several in the health care sector as well as prominent retail companies like Claire’s and Rite Aid.
A July report from financial analytics and credit rating firm S&P Global found that corporate bankruptcies in the first six months of the year reached their highest rate since 2010 and have put 2025 “on track to be one of the busiest years for filings in more than a decade.”
Aside from corporate filings, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has reported a surge in personal bankruptcy filings for the 12 months which ended in June, with nonbusiness filings rising 11.8 percent year-over-year to 519,486 from 464,553
What To Know
According to the Cornerstone report, the reasons most commonly cited in mega bankruptcies include reduced demand and increased costs associated with elevated inflation—cited in 61 percent of first day declarations.
Beyond inflation-related challenges, shifting consumer preferences, market competition and high interest rates were also mentioned by the firms filing for Chapter 11 protection, as well as “challenges in the regulatory, legal, and policy landscape.”
Cornerstone highlighted renewable energy as a sector particularly hit by policy uncertainty. Sunnova Energy, a residential solar company which filed for bankruptcy in June and was referenced in the report, said in its filing that “substantial regulatory changes and uncertainty have put further pressure on both demand for the company’s products and the company’s ability to effectively raise capital.”
Trade policy uncertainty was also mentioned in three mega bankruptcy filings over the 12 month period, according to the Cornerstone report.
These include the big-box retail chain At Home, which filed for bankruptcy in June while citing “significant challenges in addressing tariffs given its reliance on goods sourced from China.”
“While we have made significant progress advancing our initiatives to date, we are operating against the backdrop of an increasingly dynamic and rapidly evolving trade environment as we navigate the impact of tariffs,” CEO Brad Weston said at the time of the bankruptcy announcement.
In addition to mega bankruptcies, Cornerstone Research recorded a total of 117 filings among public and private companies with assets of over $100 million in the 12 months which ended June 30. This compares to 113 in the previous period, and sits 44 percent above the 2005–2024 annual average of 81 bankruptcies.
What People Are Saying
Matt Osborn, principal at Cornerstone and one of the report’s coauthors, said: “Companies filing mega bankruptcies over the last year have continued to fault high inflation and interest rates, which have impacted consumer demand and raised the costs of operating and raising capital.”
“This past year, large corporate bankruptcy filers have increasingly pointed to shifts in the regulatory, legal, and policy landscape as another key driver of financial distress, in particular policies relating to renewable energy or international trade,” he added.
What Happens Next?
The surge in mega bankruptcies could point to financial distress among large-cap companies and may continue in coming months, particularly if challenges related to inflation and interest rates persist.