Huntsville Metro Area Report

Alabama Business Confidence Index™

Fourth Quarter 2025

Business Confidence Grows in Huntsville

Huntsville business leaders are forecasting economic growth this quarter with moderately confident index of 55.5. This is 5.1 points above last quarter’s neutral outlook. It is worth noting that the Q4 2025 ABCI data was collected from September 1 – 17, so the forecasts do not capture the effect of federal government shutdown that began October 1. That being said, all six component indexes increased from their Q3 2025 levels and registered above 50, signaling expansionary expectations. However, the levels of confidence in those forecasts varied significantly. Confidence in the US economy improving is very mild, while metro panelists are very strongly confident that industry sales will increase this quarter.

Index above 50 indicates positive outlook as compared to last quarter.
Index below 50 indicates negative outlook compared to last quarter.

Huntsville Component Index Analysis

• Alabama Economy: Huntsville business leaders are forecasting improved statewide economic conditions in Q4 2025 with a moderately confident index of 55.0 after growing by 4.3 points from last quarter.
• US Economy: The US economic outlook increased 2.9 points to reach a neutral index of 50.6 in the Q4 2025 survey, indicating expectations for an overall continuation of last quarter’s levels of economic activity.
• Industry Sales: Huntsville panelists are very confident that industry sales will increase this quarter compared to their Q3 2025 levels. The index increased 9.1 points to reach 64.4 in the Q4 2025 survey.
• Industry Profits: Industry profits are expected to increase with a moderately confident index of 56.9. This is a 7.9-point increase from Q3 2025’s mildly contractionary profits index.
• Industry Hiring: Huntsville’s Q4 2025 hiring index grew by 3.7 points to register at 54.4, indicating a mild confidence in forecasts for increased hiring compared to last quarter.
• Industry Capital Expenditures: After a 2.9-point increase from Q3 2025 to reach 51.9 in the Q4 2025 survey, metro panelists are anticipating increased capital expenditures with mild confidence this quarter.

ABCI Huntsville in Context

Over the last ten quarters, Huntsville’s business confidence has varied significantly. The ABCIs during this time have ranged from mildly confident contractionary outlooks to one strongly confident forecast for growth in Q1 2025. Throughout these fluctuations, expectations for increased industry sales have remained consistently expansionary, though with varied levels of confidence; the Alabama economic outlook has been primarily positive or neutral (except when it was mildly contractionary in Q2 2025); and the forecasts for the US economy have been consistently contractionary with two exceptions. In Q1 2025, the US outlook was a strongly expansionary 60.6, and this quarter, the US outlook was a mildly confident 50.6.

This quarter, all five of Alabama’s largest metro areas are forecasting overall growth with mild to moderate confidence. The only contractionary index of all the metros was Birmingham’s US outlook (43.5), but all of the other component indexes across the metros were expansionary or neutral. All metros but Montgomery are forecasting increased sales with strong confidence, but Mobile led in expansionary expectations for the US and Alabama economies. As a result, Mobile had the highest ABCI this quarter. More details can be found in the Statewide ABCI report.

The Center for Business and Economic Research would like to thank the Alabama business executives who completed the fourth quarter 2025 ABCI™ survey. This is the 96th consecutive quarter this report has been recorded, and it would not have been possible without your participation.
Be sure to log in during the December 1–15 survey window to record your opinions about economic prospects and industry performance looking ahead to the first quarter of 2026.

  & 

This report was produced in partnership between the Center for Business and Economic Research at the The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business and the Huntsville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Analysis provided by Susannah Robichaux, Socioeconomic Analyst, Center for Business and Economic Research, Culverhouse College of Business, The University of Alabama.