Are _margins_ increasing (I don’t know) - because that would be the required condition to conclude nefariousness.
Inflation since Jan 2020 is 15% according to BLS.
If corp profits go up 15% the real profit increase is 0%
Purchasing power doesn't magically decrease, it's a function of increasing prices.
Think about for a little. If a companies input costs have increased by 10% their profit will decrease right, maybe not by 10% but it will decrease. So if they increase their prices they can get back to their previous profit level. Instead they have increased prices even more such that their profit is HIGHER than it was before inflation.
QED
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-m...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/ACI/albertsons/pro...
Obviously, a 3% profit margin after a year of inflation is going to be nominally higher than a 3% profit margin before the year of inflation.
Hence any whining about nominal increases in profit is innumeracy, or clickbait, especially for businesses that play in the sub 5% profit margin ranges.
How low do people think grocery store profit margins should go? Have they tried successfully operating a business at 3% profit margin?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-25/us-corpor...
Highest margins since 1950.
Turns out there are businesses that aren't Grocers.
Nominal profits would have to increase for profit margins (which are already low single digits for grocery stores) to be maintained.