You forget the other half of the equation: it is much easier for a CEO – who is likely to move on to a different company (and probably industry) in a few years – to concentrate on what will make the stock price and thus their own perceived value to the company go up the most NOW. Investment in long term equipment has an immediate cost (both actual dollars and the inability to use that money or line or credit on something else) plus takes a long time to depreciate and requires higher employment. Investing in the long term future of a company is more expensive than “cutting costs”.
If corporate taxes shifted so that profits plowed back into the company were not taxed at all and any outside financial investment made with that capital instead (rather than being applied to the company) was taxed at full value instead of the lesser capital gains tax, we’d see more investment in equipment and employees.
