["Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nWe investigate how traditional capital structure choices interact with emerging strategic drivers—ESG performance, R&D intensity, digitalization, and board gender diversity—to shape firm profitability in Saudi Arabia during the Vision 2030 reform era. Using a fixed‐effects panel regression model on 2067 firm‐year observations (2018–2024), we find that traditional leverage metrics show no consistent direct impact on profitability, whereas R&D intensity emerges as the strongest positive determinant. ESG and digital transformation do not influence financial performance directly but enhance the effect of R&D and governance factors when treated as moderators. We contribute by integrating corporate finance and strategic management theories under the dynamic capabilities lens, highlighting the contingent role of institutional transformation in emerging economies, and offering a robust, multi‐dimensional framework for strategic investment decision‐making in transitional markets. These findings provide actionable implications for firms and policymakers working toward sustainable, innovation‐led growth under reform agendas like Vision 2030.\n"]