Dive Brief:

• Deloitte is not releasing its Q1 CFO Signals report — a quarterly survey of finance chiefs published by the Big Four firm since 2010 — due to changes in the economic climate since the survey was conducted last quarter, according to a spokesperson. 
• “Considering the significant changes in the economic environment since the survey was fielded (late February), we believe the results may no longer accurately reflect the current sentiment of CFOs. Consequently, the traditional report will not be released at this time,” the spokesperson wrote in an email sent to CFO Dive Wednesday. Deloitte did not respond to requests for further comment. 
• Deloitte’s last published Signals report from Q4 showed a sharp jump in executive optimism, with 72% of the 200 finance chiefs surveyed projecting an improved economy in a year, compared to 19% in the previous quarter. A Jan. 15 Deloitte post on the findings noted that the executives’ rosier views may have been fueled by the anticipation of more Federal Reserve rate cuts, optimism around the settled U.S. election and the Republican majority in Congress favoring the extension of the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that many businesses want.

Dive Insight:

Deloitte’s decision to shelve its findings comes amid a growing surge of reports showing that the Trump administration’s policy of sweeping global tariffs has upended economic outlooks. 

Last week, Moody’s became one of the latest organizations to downgrade its economic forecast, as Chief Economist Mark Zandi said the administration had pushed the U.S. economy to the “precipice” of recession and pegged the odds of a downturn at 60%, CFO Dive previously reported. 

During the current earnings season, many CFOs have cautiously stressed the uncertainty swirling around their forecasts even as many sought to lay out a plan for adjusting to President Donald Trump’s fast-changing tariff announcements. 

Prologis CFO Tim Arndt said during the industrial real estate giant’s earnings call last week that tariff actions “clearly went beyond our early predictions, making the environment less certain.” He also said that even with the pause in some tariffs or resolution of others, “customers simply lack a steady backdrop upon which to plan their businesses,” CFO Dive previously reported. 

Meanwhile, many CEOs of major U.S. companies  — including American Airlines, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble  — have warned that the “shape-shifting tariff threats”are making it nearly impossible to plan and are “spooking customers,” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

While Lockheed Martin’s newly minted CFO Evan Scott agreed on a Tuesday earnings call that the defense industry was more insulated from the tariffs, the company only reaffirmed its 2025 financial outlook with the caveat that it does not include impacts from the tariffs. At the end of the call, CEO Jim Taiclet was careful to acknowledge the shifting broader climate. He also sought to strike a positive tone, choosing the word “dynamic” to describe the business environment.   

“So look, in closing, based on our substantial backlog and this best value strategy we've been talking about today, this company's really well positioned in a very dynamic environment,” Taiclet said before signing off. “We can all admit that we're in a dynamic environment, but we're continuing to innovate and deliver these advanced and reliable technologies and executing against that long-term strategy while we do the hardware and upgrade it.”