83% of CFOs say U.S. stocks are overvalued, even as optimism about their companies rises 

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Good morning. CFOs are feeling better about their own companies even as they become more cautious about markets and the broader economy. And concern is growing about the technology they’re racing to deploy. 

Deloitte’s Q3 2026 CFO Signals survey, which polled 200 North American finance chiefs at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue, found that the CFO Confidence Score climbed to 6.1 from 5.9 last quarter, moving back into “high” territory.

Ninety percent of respondents said they were more optimistic about their companies’ financial prospects, even as risk appetite cooled slightly, with 53% saying now is a good time to take greater risks, down from 59% in Q2. But Ed Hardy, U.S. financial services leader at Deloitte, noted that CFOs’ views on the relative attractiveness of debt and equity financing changed little.

More striking to Hardy was the gap between how CFOs view their own businesses and how they view the broader market. There was a sharp increase in the share of CFOs who believe U.S. equity markets are overvalued: 83%, compared with 49% in Q2. Despite that, equity attractiveness remained flat in Q3, while debt attractiveness increased four percentage points.

“If they feel it’s overvalued, buying might not be the most objective thing to do,” Hardy told me, adding that elevated valuations are prompting finance chiefs to “search for the highest use of capital,” which is a dynamic he connects to rising investment in AI.

AI and technology are also becoming a growing source of both opportunity and risk. Technology deployment, including generative AI, was among CFOs’ leading internal concerns, while cybersecurity topped the external-risk list at 50%. Hardy said the two are closely linked. “AI probably starts to increase your already heightened concern around cyber,” he said, pointing to the growing use of open platforms and third-party models.

Meanwhile, CFOs’ 12-month outlook for the North American economy slipped slightly but remained generally steady compared with Q2. Inflation, supply chain disruption and the economy itself ranked among their leading external concerns, trailing cybersecurity.

Survey data collection started Aug. 24 and wrapped Sept. 8, before the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 rate decision, leaving open how CFO sentiment might shift in the next quarter. “You always wonder whether it’s embedded into the psyche of where they think the market’s going,” Hardy said. He added that he’ll be watching closely to see whether economic and geopolitical uncertainty eases into 2027.

Looking ahead to 2027, Hardy said he expects CFOs to keep pushing AI “beyond experiment into really grounded applications,” while wrestling with governance, shifting token-based pricing models and how to measure real benefits. “The CFO role is increasing in being a convener across the enterprise,” he said, as finance takes on broader oversight of AI’s costs and outcomes.

Sheryl Estrada
Sheryl.Estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com