In theory, companies can act in any way they choose as long as the owners approve (there's some supreme court ruling on that), and executives have a high degree of latitude in how they interpret "for profit" (basically there has to be a vaguely defensible rationale) but failing that, they must act to the benefit of the company. And the easiest way to do that without a risk of being sued is to make the line go up.

(And even ignoring that, the executives often have personal motivations that have the same effect, and may just point at the "legal" angle as ass covering)