Deloitte’s latest CFO Signals report, a quarterly gauge of the sentiment of finance leaders in North America, shows a marked decline in optimism across a number of fronts. Released July 8, the Q2/25 survey dashboard highlights increased caution among CFOs likely driven by ongoing economic headwinds and geopolitical uncertainty.
Highlights from the report:
- CFO sentiment dropped considerably. The CFO confidence score came in at 5.4, indicating medium confidence. The Q1/25 reading was 6.4 — high confidence.
- Growth expectations declined across every key operational metric. Notably, CFOs lowered projections for revenue, earnings and capital investments.
- Just 23% of CFOs rate the North American economy as “good now.” By comparison, 50% of the finance chiefs offered the same response in the Q1/25 survey.
- The survey revealed CFOs are getting more risk averse. Only 1 in 3 CFOs believe now is a good time to take on more risk. That’s the lowest reading since Q3/24 — and well down from the 60% number in Q1/25.
- Top external risks: the economy (53%), cybersecurity (51%) and interest rates (43%).
- Top internal risks: talent availability (46%), lack of agility/resilience (46%) and cost management (45%).
- CFOs are split on U.S. capital market valuations: 46% say it’s undervalued, 41% say it’s overvalued.
- Sentiment around financing remains mixed: 53% view debt financing as attractive, 41% for equity.
