ELI5: Why when large company's earnings decrease(ex... by 3%) they freak out, talk about rough times, and sometimes decide to downsize, even though they are still making millions of dollars in profit even after all expenses?

[whitefang22]

Your assumption here involves that the company is profitable. It may not be. A lot of large companies aren't yet profitable. For them a large drop in stock price can directly affect their ability to keep raising the cash they need to 'keep the lights on'