Good morning.
CEO sentiment is growing increasingly sour. A new survey by EY of 1,200 global CEOs—taken in December and out this morning—finds 98% of them are anticipating an economic downturn, and they are split down the middle on whether that downturn will be “moderate” or “severe.” Most disturbingly, more than half—55%—indicated some agreement with the statement that “this recession will be worse than the global financial crisis in terms of how deep the downturn is and how long it lasts.”
Yet in spite of the coming downturn, CEOs are eager to make transformational acquisitions—perhaps because prices are more reasonable than they were a year ago. Of the CEOs polled, 46% said they anticipated pursuing merger and acquisitions over the course of the year. That notion is bolstered by news this week of two potential $10 billion deals: CVS’s pursuit of Oak Street Health and Microsoft’s increased investment in OpenAI.
By the way, while layoffs at companies like Salesforce, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs have gotten outsized attention, the overall layoff rate remains low. Megan Leonhardt breaks down the numbers here, showing which industries have been hit the hardest.
Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
