When you buy shares you don't inherit any asset or debt consequences (if I understand what you mean by consequences). Simply said, you as a stockholder can't be held liable for any of the money the company has borrowed. Conversely, you aren't entitled to a scrap of their assets. You own a share of their earnings, which is why they are called shares. The only time debt comes into play for a stockholder is to the extent debt service has an impact on the company's earnings. The bankruptcy illustration does indeed prove my point. Equity holders are typically wiped out entirely in bankruptcy, and not because the debt holders come first, but because debt is secured against assets, and equity is secured only against earnings. The exceptions to this are few and far between.
I did not say that EPS was the only consideration. I said it was primary. Markets are constantly trying to value not current earnings but future earnings. Cash becomes an important consideration for an unprofitable company, such as Tesla, because once they burn through all the cash they can raise from investors and the bond markets without becoming profitable, they go bankrupt. Plenty of investors seem prepared to bet that Tesla will turn the corner before the well runs dry. That's how a money losing company can float a big market cap. But no matter how you express it, earnings will be the final word on the matter. And you can also be sure that if Tesla goes into bankruptcy the stockholders will get absolutely nothing.
