As several people have pointed out, the stock market investors care. But putting that aside, a company can be profitable with a stock price of $0 (though not l

As several people have pointed out, the stock market investors care. But putting that aside, a company can be profitable with a stock price of $0 (though not likely). So at first glance it would seem that just staying profitable is enough to get by, and technically it is. But the problem is staying profitable. If a company has been growing rapidly, then the growth slows, then the growth stops, that's a big indicator that they'll start shrinking. Of course there is a non-zero probability that they will stay profitable for quite some time, but the odds are against them.