Ever since the Federal Rserve began raising interest rates in early 2022, corporations and investors have braced for how a recession might play out. The word recession came up on the fourth-quarter earnings calls of 47 companies in the S & P 500, according to market data platform FactSet. Almost half of the more than two dozen finance chiefs surveyed by CNBC said they expect the Federal Reserve to control inflation without a recession, a scenario known as a soft landing. Looking ahead to 2024, CFO Emma Giamartino said the Dallas-based company's full-year guidance is "contingent" on the Fed cutting short-term interest rates and the economy skirting a recession. "All indications are now that we're going to have more of a soft landing than a recession."

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Persons: John Wall, Emma Giamartino, Giamartino, Richard Galanti, Galanti, Joseph Margolis, it's, Margolis, J, Thomas Hill, Marvin Ellison, Ellison Organizations: Federal, U.S, Cadence Design Systems, CNBC, Federal Reserve, Costco, Kirkland Signature, Hotels, Vulcan Locations: Dallas, Salt Lake City, North Carolina