eli5: Why is it not good enough for a company to turn a profit, why do they have to hit “expectations”

Question

Headline after headline say that companies “failed” and/or didn’t hit “targets”, but when you look at the numbers, the company made profits, sometimes in the millions to billions, it just wasn’t “enough”.

Is this greed? Why is it not good enough to make a profit?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Investing in companies involves significantly higher risk compared to savings accounts, so investors seek higher returns to justify this risk. Without the potential for higher returns, investors would prefer safer options like savings accounts.