Toys 'R' Us was doing fine and making stable profits but the company was run to the ground in an attempt to push online sales for a chance of massive growth. I

Toys 'R' Us was doing fine and making stable profits but the company was run to the ground in an attempt to push online sales for a chance of massive growth. It's not so much that the market favors "short term" growth. The market favors high-risk high-growth (which usually only works short term and requires an exit) over low-risk low-growth (which is usually fairly stable in the long run).