The CFO Survey | MTS Insights

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The CFO Survey: Q1 2026 2026-03-25 07:30
CFOs remain concerned about tariffs and anticipate price increases of more than 3 percent in 2026, while expecting moderate growth in employment and overall economic activity. Widespread increases in AI-related spending are expected, particularly among small firms.
- When asked between Nov. 11 and Dec. 1 to rate optimism about the overall U.S. economy on a scale from 0 to 100, the average rating from CFOs was 60.2, a slight dip from 62.9 in the third quarter of the year.
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The outlook for the U.S. economy among financial decision-makers improved somewhat in the third quarter of 2025, as uncertainty declined. However, concerns about the impact of tariffs on prices and business performance continued to weigh on firms.
- When asked between Aug. 18 and Sept. 5 to rate optimism about the overall U.S. economy on a scale from 0 to 100, the average rating from CFOs was 62.9, a jump from 60.9 in the second quarter of the year.
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Financial decision-makers’ outlooks deteriorated in the second quarter of 2025, amid record concern about the impact of trade policy. Forty percent of respondents indicated tariffs and trade policy were a pressing concern for their firm this quarter, a record share of respondents citing the same concern going back to the second quarter of 2020.
- When asked between May 19 and June 6 to rate optimism about the overall U.S. economy on a scale from 0 to 100, the average rating from CFOs was 60.9, down slightly from the first quarter of the year.
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Optimism about the economy among CFOs fell in the first quarter of 2025 amid concerns about tariffs and uncertainty, according to the latest CFO Survey.
- The economic optimism index fell from 66.0 in the fourth quarter to 62.1 in the first quarter of 2025, almost erasing gains from a post-election jump in the fourth quarter. Optimism about their own firm’s financial prospects also fell, although not nearly as much.
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