CFO Signals™: 2018 Q1

Highlights from the 2018 Q1 results

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CFO assessments of the economy in Q1

A year ago, coming out of the 2016 US presidential election, CFOs' sentiment soared—with the first quarter survey registering the sharpest sentiment uptick in its history. Although things ebbed a bit over the next two quarters, sentiment remained quite positive even as CFOs voiced growing concerns about geopolitical conflict and US political turmoil. And, in the fourth quarter, sentiment rose again—with CFOs' confidence in their companies' prospects hitting its third-highest level.

Throughout last year, CFOs' positive sentiment was underpinned by positive assessments of the North American economy and, more recently, by rising perceptions of Europe and China. The same applies this quarter, with confidence in all three regions hitting new survey highs.

In addition, the passage of tax reform and government spending bills in the US appears to have further bolstered confidence—with growth expectations for revenue, earnings, capex, and hiring all rising to multi-year highs and CFOs' optimism about their companies' prospects hitting its highest-ever level.

So what are US policy changes and skyrocketing optimism leading companies to do next? To help answer this question, this quarter's survey explores the changes companies are making in response to new US tax law.

Download the report to read the details or executive summary to view the highlights.

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About Deloitte LLP's CFO Signals™ survey

CFO Signals™ is about CFO issues. This quarterly survey tracks the thinking and actions of leading CFOs—representing North America’s largest and most influential companies—across four predominant areas: business environment, company priorities and expectations, finance priorities, personal priorities.

Learn more about Deloitte's CFO Signals™ survey.

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