Total goodwill impairment soared to $78.9 billion in 2018, up 125% over the prior year, according to the “2019 U.S. Goodwill Impairment Study” by Duff & Phelps. The study examines general and industry goodwill impairment trends of more than 8,800 U.S. publicly traded companies through December 2018. The hardest hit industry was the industrials sector, with an aggregate goodwill impairment of $25.1 billion in 2018, although $22.1 billion of that total was from GE alone. Healthcare, consumer staples, and energy also had large increases in goodwill impairment. The outlook for 2019 is for overall goodwill impairment to see a significant decrease, the study says.

Extra: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is exploring whether to move from the current impairment model for goodwill to one of amortization or a hybrid approach. See our recent coverage of this matter.