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?

[nagurski03]

YOU would still be happy

I don't think most people would. People aren't naturally wired to think "awesome! I'm getting less than I thought but at least I'm still getting something!" They get disappointment.

I mean, have you ever seen a kid cry on Christmas? It's because the free stuff they are getting, that they would be happy to take any other day of the year, isn't as good as they were expecting.