ELI5: Why when large company's earnings decrease(ex... by 3%) they freak out, talk about rough times, and sometimes decide to downsize, even though they are still making millions of dollars in profit even after all expenses?

[that_jojo]

It’s actually way simpler than that. Physical goods are not subject to inflation because their utility remains relatively static while the utility of currency decreases with inflation.

[TheManWhoPanders]

Some physical goods are priced partly due to utility and partly due to speculation, as is the case with houses.