Q1 2026 closed with 2,345 small business transactions and a total enterprise value of $2 billion -- a market that held its ground at the headline level while experiencing significant sector-level divergence, according to BizBuySell's Q1 2026 Insight Report, which tracks U.S. business-for-sale transactions and sentiment from owners, buyers, and brokers.

The median sale price held at $350,000, unchanged from a year prior. Median cash flow grew 3% to $165,256 and median revenue rose 2% to $713,404. The average cash flow multiple increased from approximately 2.6x to 2.7x -- a modest improvement that reflects quality businesses selling at firmer prices while lower-quality listings dragged the overall average.

Manufacturing stood apart from every other sector with a 16% year-over-year transaction increase, a 52% jump in median sale price, 25% growth in median cash flow, and 53% growth in median revenue -- the strongest quarterly performance of any sector tracked. Service businesses showed steady demand with shorter time-on-market. Restaurants, retail, and manufacturing (in prior quarters) faced valuation headwinds driven by cost absorption.

Seventy-two percent of business brokers expect more sellers to enter the market in 2026, driven by Baby Boomer retirements -- 49% of current listings are already from Boomer-owned businesses. Two-thirds of brokers expect deal volume to increase over the next six months.

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Source: BizBuySell -- https://www.bizbuysell.com/insight-report/