Auditor ‘Going Concern’ Warnings Spike Among Troubled Companies

The auditors of almost a quarter of all public companies had big doubts in 2022 about the odds of these businesses staying afloat.

Auditors warned they had substantial doubts about the ability of 24.3% of companies to continue as going concerns, up from 21.6% in 2021, according an Audit Analytics report released Thursday. The report analyzed annual reports for US companies as well as foreign companies that file reports with US regulators.

Of the more than 1,800 red flags auditors waved last year, 535 were the first for those companies, resulting in the most new going concern ...