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

You have to remember these companies making millions or billions are often widely owned. With hundreds of thousands or millions of owners, the difference between a $1 million profit and a $1 billion profit is huge. That $1 billion in profit may only represent $100/person.