I think you have identified a true paradox! Henceforth we shall call it the PATOOEY Paradox.
In it’s most general form: “The stock price is too low to operate the business. To get the stock price higher the business must be operated.”
This explains PATOOEY well. Dick got violently sucked into the the PATOOEY Paradox. When the stock price sunk, he simply had no choice but to shut down operations. But now he is caught in the devilish grasp of this nefarious phenomenon.