Key Points

  • Deloitte's latest quarterly CFO Signals report shows that overall confidence among CFOs of large U.S. companies in the business and economic environment rose for the second consecutive quarter in Q4,reaching its highest level since late 2021。
  • Financial leaders' risk appetite also rebounded after a sharp drop in Q2, with 59% of respondents saying it is a good time to make bigger bets, compared to just 12% in the same period last year. The report notes: "Apart from Q2 this year, CFO respondents' enthusiasm about their companies' financial prospects has been moving in one direction: north."
  • Despite improving clarity on multiple fronts, executives remain cautious about capital markets, with the largest group (43%) believing markets are overvalued, 27% saying undervalued, and about one-third holding a neutral view.

Deeper Analysis

The Big Four firm's findings align withthe Business Roundtable surveyresults. That survey found thatCEO expectations for sales and capital expenditures rose slightly, but the share of CEOs planning layoffs rather than hiring has risen this year to its highest level since the Great Recession.

In contrast, in Q4 CFOs rankedlabor or talentand hiring as the third-largest internal risk, behind cost management and efficiency, and production; while the economy, inflation, and cybersecurity were ranked by financial executives as the top three external risks.

Earlier this year, Deloitte found that finance andaccounting talent shortageswere among the biggest workforce challenges CFOs cited, with some finance chiefs saying they have played a larger role infinding and recruiting staffto build out their teams, as CFO Dive previously reported.

In the latest survey, a majority of respondents gave positive ratings to current equity and debt financing markets, with 56% of executives saying it is an "attractive" time to issue stock for fundraising and 53% saying the current environment is "attractive" for borrowing.