Corporate America Rides Wave of Inflation to Record Profits

  • Net margin hits all-time high as companies see pricing power
  • S&P 500 earnings expanding five times as fast as revenue
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Markets have been obsessed -- and sometimes roiled -- for months over whether higher inflation is coming. The latest batch of quarterly reports suggests it’s already here and helping corporate America.

Faced with rising prices for everything from lumber to oil to labor and computer chips, chief executive officers have cut costs and boosted prices for their products. The strategy appears to be working, with first-quarter incomeBloomberg Terminal from S&P 500 companies jumping five times as fast as salesBloomberg Terminal, data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence show.