Kodak Hopefuls Get Heavy Dose Of Reality (EK)

Reality is setting in at Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK).  Whether it can milk money out of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and host of other ‘patent infringers’ or not and whether it shrinks its operations or not, this is just a troubled company no matter how you cut it.  The move to digital just took too long, other players got a jump, printing and imaging is a crowded space full of more solid competitors, and the legacy film business will only make a comeback if the earth’s poles go into sudden reverse.

The latest fears driving down the stock are summed up by the addressed issue at Moody’s: patent royalties alone are extremely unlikely to help Kodak get around a coming shortfall of its cash and liquidity in the middle of this year.

Perhaps the only good news is that the short sellers have already milked this one dry.

As for the ultimately reality check, Eastman Kodak is down 22% at $0.63 today.  We won’t bother including a 52-week trading range nor how high this former DJIA component used to trade.  Let’s just say it is uglier than a hatful of chopped up fingers.

JON C. OGG