Major Retailers Sound Inflation Alarm as High Prices Hit Profits

Customers browse food stalls inside Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles on March 11, 2022. Fears of stagflation in the U.S. economy are on the rise. Stagflation happens when the economy has slow growth, unemployment has risen to record heights, and prices are rising, or the country is in an inflationary stage.Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

A number of major retailers missed Wall Street expectations by wide margins last week, while the vast majority of the nearly 150 U.S. retailers that have reported first-quarter earnings so far have explicitly mentioned inflation, as surging prices have squeezed bottom lines.

Refinitiv data show that, of the 145 retailers that have reported first-quarter earnings so far, 138 flagged supply chain issues and 127 mentioned inflation.