Bradford noted the move doesn’t necessarily mean the company will issue any of the authorized shares, but it will give the company the option to use equity, if needed, to reach its targeted growth. “We believe the [increased] shares would provide us the flexibility to not only maintain market share, but to substantially grow market share, just as we have in the past,” he said on the conference call.

Such meteoric rises, Johnson added, are often followed by an all-too-common ending: “Like lightning striking, in an instant the exchange suspends trades, shutters the windows for withdrawals, silences traffic on its website and files for bankruptcy protection, leaving customers infuriated, investors stunned, and creditors scrambling in a footrace to the courthouse.”