Investors are fretting over inflation. Scores of US companies are saying they are right to.
A growing list of businesses are warning that supply-chain bottlenecks, increasing raw material costs and higher labour expenses are beginning to bite.
Manufacturing behemoth 3M has flagged rising air and freight costs to ship its goods, while Walmart has warned on the congestion in US ports. Mobile home manufacturer Legacy Homes and Williams-Sonoma, the purveyor of Breville espresso machines and Wüsthof knife sets, have seen an uptick in wage costs. And Barbie Doll-maker Mattel has warned on the rise in plastics prices, which were exacerbated by the winter storm in Texas that took petrochemicals plants offline.