Eastman Kodak Company (KODK) Is Getting Interesting

On February 3, we witnessed a rise of roughly 40% by Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK) before it ended the day with a 16% gain. An explanation for the investors’ behavior can be found in Eastman Kodak and Microsoft’s message about their planned partnership. In fact, the story turned out to not be news in the end.

In the year-to-date period, Eastman Kodak Company shares are up 31.94% and in the most recent session, they have moved down 2.19% or -$0.24 lower. Although, stock performance has been 208.62% higher over the past year. Comparatively, the stock’s YTD performance is 31.94%, while its 12-month trailing performance has been 50.42%. The shorter duration of the measure has shown a weekly return of 8.81% and a monthly return of 30.02 %.

The high interest in KODK stock came after CEO Jim Continenza tweeted Eastman K’s partnership with Microsoft. However, this is the same information that was first reported in December 2020 and has already been considered by investors. Previously, it had been reported that Eastman Kodak had teamed up with Microsoft to create a software solution package for printers. Since the partnership announcement was not viewed as new information, prices fell sharply within a day.

Eastman Kodak shareholders are wary after experiencing a sharp rise in July-August 2020 on information about the provision of a loan of $765 million for the company to launch a new pharmaceutical business. As a result, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating the company, which led it to determine whether or not Eastman Kodak was receiving illegal profits from stock options.

The SEC did not find any irregularities, but interest in Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK) shares declined. Since nearing $60 in August, shares dropped to about $7 in November or December 2020, and the company is not able to recover from it because of serious problems in its core printing business. Additionally, not all investors believe that Eastman Kodak will become a serious player in the industry. Because of business uncertainty, and mixed assessments on the part of investors, shares of the company are likely to remain volatile in the medium term.