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CFO Signals

Deloitte’s North American CFO Signals survey is a quarterly survey that captures the perspectives and actions of chief financial officers from some of North America’s largest and most influential businesses. The survey gauges CFO sentiment across a number of fronts, including the economy, capital markets, and the issues keeping them up at night.

FEATURED INSIGHT

CFO confidence drops slightly in Q1

6.3

While still in high territory, the CFO confidence score dropped from 6.6 in Q4 2025 to 6.3 for the first three months of 2026.

CFO confidence score

The CFO confidence score registered 6.3 this quarter. It's a slight decline from the previous quarter but still falls in high territory (6-to-8 range).

Explore CFO confidence score

Assessment of regional economies

CFO respondents generally remain upbeat about the current North American economy. But they hold a decidedly different view of business conditions in Europe, with optimism for that economy decreasing by nearly half from the previous quarter.

Explore the regional economies outlook

Own-company prospects & growth metrics

CFOs are less optimistic now about their own-company future financial prospects, with 74% saying they’re significantly or somewhat more optimistic, down from 90% six months ago. Growth projections, however, were up for five of the six growth metrics tracked.

Explore own-company prospects and growth metrics

Risk appetite

Risk appetite decreased markedly in Q1. The percentage of CFOs who say it’s a good time to take on greater risk dropped to 48%, a sizable drop from 59% the previous quarter. Just 15 months ago, 67% of respondents thought it was a good time to take on additional risks.

Explore CFO risk appetite

Biggest internal and external risks

More than half (52%) of CFOs surveyed cite cost management as their most worrisome internal risk. It was the top response. The same percentage chose supply chain disturbance as their most worrisome external risk, the No. 1 response in the category.

Explore internal and external risks

Capital markets in the latest quarter

CFOs’ perceptions of stock valuation remain largely the same compared to Q4 2025. About four in ten (39%) believe U.S. equity markets are overvalued, versus 44% last quarter. The results are substantially different from Q1 2025, when only 21% of respondents believed stocks were overvalued.

Explore capital market insights

Table of contents

Assessment of regional economies Own-company prospects and growth metrics Risk appetite Biggest internal and external risks Capital markets in the latest quarter Continue the conversation

CFO confidence

What it measures: Overall CFO sentiment in the current quarter about economic and business conditions

KEY TAKEAWAY

Polled finance chiefs show a slight decline in confidence in the first three months of the year, down from 6.6 in Q4 2025 to 6.3 this quarter. Still, this ranks as the third-highest score since Q1 2022.

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Confidence level

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Methodology Note

Deloitte’s CFO confidence score is a measure of overall CFO sentiment in the current quarter about economic and business conditions. In short, this formula averages the scores of the five current and five future business environment questions in the survey, and then discounts the US equity markets and equity financing conditions by 80%, and discounts debt-financing conditions by 50%. Scores are as follows: “very low” (1 to 3), “low” (3 to 5), “medium” (5 to 6), “high” (6 to 8), and “very high” (8 to 10). The typical range observed in the score for the last 20 quarters is between 4 and 7.

Assessment of regional economies

What it measures: What CFOs think of the status of five key regional economies (North America, Europe, China, Asia (excluding China), and South America), both today and a year from now.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Surveyed CFOs are pessimistic about the current economy in Europe. The percentage of respondents who say the economy there is good declined by nearly half, from 60% in Q4 2025 to 33% this quarter.

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Own-company prospects and growth metrics

Own-company prospects

What it measures: CFOs’ assessment of their organization’s future financial prospects compared with the past three months. Choices range from “significantly more optimistic” to “significantly less optimistic.”

KEY TAKEAWAY

Nearly three out of four CFOs (74%) indicate they are significantly or somewhat more optimistic about the future financial prospects of their company. That’s down from 90% six months ago.

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Growth metrics

What it measures: The 12-month outlook for CFO’s organizations across six key indicators: revenues, earnings, dividends, capital allocation, domestic hiring, and domestic wages and salaries

KEY TAKEAWAY

Finance chiefs expect increases in five out of six growth metrics in the coming 12 months. The outlier: domestic hiring, with CFOs forecasting an increase of slightly under 2.8% over the next year, on par with expectations (2.8%) in the previous quarter.

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Risk appetite

What it measures: A CFO’s current risk tolerance. The line indicates the percentage of survey participants who say now is a good time to be taking greater risks.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Respondents seem to be in a much more cautious mood this quarter. Risk appetite fell to 48%. In Q4 2025, nearly six in ten (59%) thought it was a good time to take on greater risk.

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Methodology Note

The number of respondents for each industry varies.

Biggest internal and external risks

What it measures: CFOs’ views on the biggest risks to their organizations. Respondents are asked to select the three external and three internal risks to their organizations that concern them most. The list of answer choices is updated when needed to reflect changes in the risk landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Supply chain disruption (52%) jumps to the top of the list of CFOs’ most worrisome external risks. Of note, cybersecurity, which was a top concern throughout 2025, is now close to the bottom of CFOs’ external concerns (37%).

Capital markets in the latest quarter

Once again, more respondents this quarter consider U.S. equity markets overvalued (39%) than undervalued (26%). And despite the Federal Reserve holding the line on the fed funds rate, only 32% of respondents think debt financing is attractive. The number was 53% in Q4 2025.

How do you regard US equity market valuations?

What it measures: Sentiment about stock prices in the United States in the latest reported quarter

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How do you regard equity financing?

What it measures: Respondents’ views on the desirability of issuing stock to raise capital

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How do you regard debt financing?

What it measures: Respondents’ views on the desirability of borrowing money to raise capital

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Continue the conversation

Deloitte’s CFO Program is designed to help finance leaders leverage experiences, insights, and peer groups to break through personal barriers, transform thinking, and approach top-of-mind issues with fresh perspectives.

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Steve Gallucci

National managing partner, US CFO Program, Deloitte LLP