Regardless, in the event of Chapter 7 or Chapter 11, Lynn M. LoPucki, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and the founder of the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Database, warns shareholders to keep their expectations low.

"If a shareholder sees a company they own shares in has filed Chapter 7, it is near certain they’ll receive nothing," he said. "If they see a company has filed Chapter 11, it's highly probable they will receive nothing."