What matters more -- margins or absolute profits?

I've noticed that there is a lot of focus on margins when it comes companies (i.e. within a particular industry, better margins are better). My question is what do you think is more important when valuing a company, margins or absolute profits? If in the end we care about absolute cash flows, why is there such a big focus on margins? Maybe I'm simply thinking about this wrong, but I'm curious to hear what you all think.

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