CEO plans for capital spending and expectations for sales over the next six months are up slightly, according to Business Roundtable.
The report, Q3 2025 CEO Economic Outlook Survey, is a composite index of what CEOs are planning to do over the next six months. The outlet found that the overall index is up by seven points (to 76) over last quarter, but still below its historic average (of 83). The outlet said the gains reflect an uptick in CEO plans for capital investment and an increase in their sales expectations.
“The increase in capex plans signals CEOs are optimistic about the pro-growth tax policies in the recently enacted reconciliation legislation. We applaud Congress and the Administration for preventing a major tax hike on American companies and families and bolstering U.S. competitiveness,” Chuck Robbins, Business Roundtable Chair and CEO of Cisco. “Another powerful step policymakers can take to build on this momentum and further strengthen the U.S. economy is to modernize our outdated permitting system, which is essential to unlocking infrastructure investments in everything from energy and transportation to AI.”
The report also found that hiring plans remain unchanged over last quarter. The plans inched up a few points, but that is consistent with a softening labor market, officials said. Hiring plans increased two point to 37, the second quarter in a row the employment subindex fell below the level signaling contraction.
The report also found that capital investment plans have increased 12 points to a value of 77, while sales expectations increased seven points to a value of 114.
“Though we are pleased to see some recovery in CEO plans for capex, there’s fragmentation among the various sectors, with trade-exposed industries like manufacturing facing headwinds,” Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said. “The President has secured some significant concessions in trade negotiations, and we urge our trading partners and the Administration to continue working together to remove harmful tariffs and non-tariff barriers.”