Capstone Partners, a middle market investment banking firm, released its 2026 Middle Market Business Owners Survey Report, with insights from privately-owned companies across the U.S. This report combines Capstone’s middle market knowledge with proprietary data obtained from 400 participating owners of privately-owned, middle market companies. Conducted between May 20, 2026, and July 7, 2026, the survey captures sentiment at a pivotal moment in the U.S., identifying CEOs’ decision-making processes, growth, financial, exit plans and value drivers that characterized middle market business in 2026.
Key Findings:
- Improved comfortability with persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility saw the share of CEOs concerned with company growth fall an average of 3.5% compared to 2025. However, persistent inflationary pressures have remained for the majority (92.3%) of business owners.
- Middle market business owners have scaled back operational and strategic adjustments to adapt to shifting trade policy in 2026. Overall, most (79.5%) business owners have completed at least one tariff strategy shift in 2026, down 3.8% from 2025.
- The majority (57.7%) of surveyed CEOs completed at least one capital markets transaction in the last 12-months (LTM), representing a 0.3% year-over-year (YOY) rise.
- Private equity (PE) interest in middle market businesses has also continued to expand, with 54.6% of surveyed business owners reporting inbound contact from a PE firm in the LTM.
- The majority (84.5%) of surveyed CEOs reported that their business has already implemented or plans to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools, with customer service/marketing solutions representing the most common use case.
- The lion’s share (48.8%) of business owners surveyed plan to execute growth strategies over the next 12-months (NTM). However, planned growth strategy initiatives have fallen 7.1% YOY, as recent inflationary pressures have pushed owners to increasingly prioritize financial stability efforts (+6.1% YOY).
- Project financing has represented the top use case for LTM debt capital (50%), NTM debt capital (57.1%), and NTM equity financing (44.6%) among surveyed CEOs.
- In 2026, 72.7% of middle market CEOs have started preparing for an exit from their business, suggesting a sizable pool of exit-ready business owners.
- Compared to CEOs who have not started preparing for an exit from their business, exit prepared business owners completed more capital markets transactions in the LTM (+46.5%), attracted greater inbound PE interest (+34.5%), and reported greater LTM revenue growth (+20%).
- The share of CEOs with a very positive U.S. economic outlook has increased for the second consecutive year to 22.5% in 2026, marking a four-year high.
- The majority (71.6%) of CEOs have reported a positive NTM industry outlook, marking a 5.7% YOY improvement following two years of declining sentiment.
Through this research, Capstone has evaluated the health of the middle market in 2026, uncovering recent challenges faced by business owners and the resources required to offset these challenges. The report also provides an analysis of forward-looking growth strategies and initiatives, business owners’ outlooks on their respective industries and the broader U.S. economy, and expected revenue changes.
