gop-tea-pub:

Economic Misperception: the general public thinks the average company makes a 36% profit margin, which is about 5X too high.

In 2013, a poll asked Americans the following question:
“Just a rough guess, what percent profit on each dollar of sales do you think the average company makes after taxes?”

The majority of Americans said 36%. However as the data shows, this is INCORRECT.

According to data from NYU-Stern, which has a database of over 7,000
companies across a comprehensive variety of industries, the average
profit margin for ALL industries is only 7.9%.

If we exclude
the financial services industry, which has higher profit margins, from
this equation, the average profit margin across all industries is only
6.9%.

What about that evil corporate conglomerate known as
Walmart? Well, as the graph shows, Walmart only turned a 2.1 cent
post-tax profit for every dollar of sales they made in 2017.

Let that sink in. Walmart had a TWO PERCENT profit margin. Not exactly
consistent with the picture of a greedy corporation. In fact, TAXES make
up a LARGER percentage of Walmart sales than profits. Part of the
explanation for this is that more than HALF of Walmart’s sales are for
groceries, which tend to carry lower profit margins.

And before
you start talking about the stories of working conditions at Walmart,
we are aware of those anecdotal accounts, and there is probably some
truth to those accounts. This is merely to point out that Walmart isn’t
flush with and hoarding cash so as to avoid paying higher wages.

What about much maligned “big oil companies?” Well, the Integrated
Oil/Gas industry made a profit BELOW the overall average at 5.6%. More
specifically, the Production/Exploration oil and gas industry is LOSING
money, turning a negative profit of -6.6%.

Further, more broadly speaking, only 9% of corporate income in America goes to profits, 63% goes to workers.

In conclusion, no, corporate profits are not high, on average. Nor are they cheapskating workers.

SOURCES:

http://www.aei.org/publication/the-public-thinks-the-average-company-makes-a-36-profit-margin-which-is-about-5x-too-high-part-ii/

https://facebook.com/UnbiasedAmerica/photos/a.130184327167571/624929437693055/?type=3

Credit to AEI for the graphic provided.