https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporate-profits-inflation

Analysis Shows How #Corporate #Profits Drive #Inflation—Even as Business Costs Go Down
JULIA CONLEY
Jan 18, 2024

..."Groundwork found that corporate profits—not labor and other business costs—drove 53% of price increases in the second and third quarters of 2023. In the four decades preceding the pandemic, profits drove just 11% of price growth.

Business costs have risen by about 1% since early 2023—and in some sectors, input costs have gone down due to drops in prices for transportation, warehousing, and fuel. Yet prices for consumers have gone up by 3.4% in the same time period.
...
Families are paying an average of 30% more for diapers than they were in 2019—and from 2021-23, high prices were partially linked to the soaring cost of wholesale wood pulp, a component of diapers.

Wood pulp prices went up by 87% over those two years, but over the past year, prices have dropped by 25%.

Still, reported Groundwork, "using their pricing power, P&G and Kimberly-Clark have kept diaper prices high for American families, allowing their profit margins to expand considerably."

In earnings calls with shareholders, executives at the two companies said their skyrocketing profits—an $800 million windfall in P&G's case—were attributed to declining input costs and high prices.

Mike Hsu, CEO of Kimberly-Clark, told investors the company has "a lot of opportunity to [expand margins over time] between what we're doing on the revenue side and also on the cost side."

Other companies have also been clear in recent months about their plans to keep prices high to pad their profits, with PepsiCo chief financial officer Hugh Johnson telling shareholders the company may "increase margins during the course of the year" as its costs decrease, after the company raised consumer prices by about 15%."...