Frogg,
You're right in that penny companies don't have the regulation that companies on larger exchanges have. I also agree with you that blindly believing a company is foolish. In my opinion, it is important to use critical thinking when approaching anything in life - including investments.
Why would HCPC release these unaudited numbers if they didn't feel that the audited numbers will be close? If the audited numbers turn out to be way off, the company will have then lost any credibility they had. I don't believe that they would waste their time lying to the public to get investors so the company can stay alive. They absolutely have to release the audited financials in the near future or they will lose investors. HCPC must know that, and must know that lying to the investors would do them very little good at this point.
One or two things will happen in the near future:
1. Audited numbers will be nowhere close to what they have posted and investors will pull out. Thereby leaving the company with almost nowhere to go but in the red. Personally, I don't think this will happen because they idea for a company is to STAY in business. If they knew their numbers were going to be horrible, why bother releasin unaudited financials??? So they could keep the business alive a couple more months before the investors find out they're a sham? I doubt it, but am always interested in hearing conspiracy theories.
2. They release audited numbers that are close to the unaudited numbers they released. At that point, they will at least prove (with little or no doubt) that they are trustworthy, and perhaps the PPS will spike for a little while
Sure, as you state - what penny companies say may not necessarily be fact, but based on what I've listed above, it makes no logical sense for them to lie about the things you think they are lying about. Again, if my theories are wrong, I'll be the first to admit it. Based on the DD, logic and reasoning, I just can't see this company lying any more than a large company lies to its investors every day.