The beginning of the year delivers plenty of outlooks, snapshots and surveys that seek to paint the picture of what leading executives are thinking about and planning for the coming 12 months. We try to absorb as much information as we can from them and also check their findings against what we’re hearing in the market. We figured that, this year, we wouldn’t keep the amassed data points and insights to ourselves.
So here’s a rundown of key points that stood out to us from recent reports issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers, FTI Consulting, Vistage and Grant Thornton. A picture they all paint? The vibes were high after the election with the promise of looser regulations, tax breaks and more. Here, we’ve sought to highlight some of the finer points where these firms’ research goes in some different directions.
PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey
Starting out with the most comprehensive report makes sense to us. PwC surveyed more than 4,700 CEOs from around the world and one stat quickly jumped out: 42% of leaders plan to increase their headcount this year while only 17% think their payrolls will shrink. That’s based on a broadly positive outlook about global growth after two years in which fewer than two in five CEOs were upbeat.
Also noteworthy in PwC’s report is the correlation between business model evolution and profitability. Leadership teams that have done more to reinvent their products, services and customer bases are generating higher profit margins. Stepping outside your comfort zone pays off.
This gauge—which the research team at executive coaching giant Vistage say leads U.S. industrial production by nine months—turned up sharply late last year as leaders foresaw the return of those famed animal spirits. Popping out to us here: Nearly half of CEOs surveyed in the first half of December said they weren’t waiting around and would invest in growth this quarter. Playing into that rush to grow are last year’s interest-rate cuts and the perceived likelihood there won’t be many more coming soon.
After dipping in the fall, this quarterly outlook bounced back in a big way and, like the Vistage report, suggests capital spending will pop this year: Three times as many finance chiefs plan to increase or speed up investments as plan to tap the brakes because of the election. More eye-catching to us, however, was that the number of CFOs expecting to spend more on sales and marketing rose for the sixth straight quarter. Translation: The competition is stepping up its game and it’s time to keep up.
FTI Consulting 2025 Global CFO Report
How about a data point speaking to relative strength in the marketplace? FTI’s annual survey of more than 600 finance executives was no outlier in terms of optimism, with 72% projecting double-digit top-line growth. Below that headline number, however, is a sign that the strong are getting stronger still: CFOs of companies with $100 million to $1 billion in sales have grown a bit more cautious versus a year ago while no fewer than 77% of their peers at firms with $5 billion or more in revenue are forecasting double-digit growth. Is this a discrepancy that leads to much more M&A?
Some things to watch amid all the optimism and the headlines that have emanated from Washington and Mar-a-Lago since late last year: Will top-line expectations soon need to be tempered due to tariff and/or policy uncertainty? And might the reins be tightened on growth investments as a result? Or will the brave and bold be doubly rewarded for venturing forth as planned?
