What happened
Shares of Eastman Kodak (KODK 0.21%) rose 10.3% this week, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The imaging equipment and services company closed at $4.29 last Friday, then opened on Monday at $4.27, before rising to a high of $4.9250 on Wednesday. The stock's 52-week low is $3.45 with a high of $11.26. The stock is down more than 49% over the past year and flat since the start of 2022.
Image source: Getty Images
So what
With the industrial stock languishing, it didn't take a lot of good news to give it a boost. On Wednesday, the company announced that it had finished the installation of its first Kodak Magnus Q4800 Platesetter in Germany. The machine, used for digital offset printing, is 62 feet long and 11.5 feet wide, making it the largest computer-to-plate (CTP) imaging system in the world. The advantage of CTP systems as opposed to the more traditional computer-to-film printers is that the technology takes out the darkroom step, making the process cheaper and faster.
Kodak has plenty of competition for CTP systems, most notably from Fujifilm, AGFA, and Lucky Huaguang.
Kodak was once a giant in producing film for photography. As you might have guessed considering the rise in digital photography over the past 20 years, its annual revenue has declined more than 62% over the past 10 years and by more than 25% over the past five years. In 2005, the company reported $11.3 billion in annual revenue. Last year, that figure was $1.029 billion.
The company's third-quarter financials were a step in the right direction, with revenue of $287 million, up 13.8% year over year. All three segments were up, led by traditional printing with $166 million, followed by digital printing ($58 million), and advanced materials and chemicals ($55 million). Net income was listed at $8 million, compared to a loss of $445 million, year over year.
Now what
Kodak might be a decent long-term play, despite its long trend downward. The company is still profitable, and if it can produce another improving quarter, investors might be willing to jump into what looks to be a bargain with a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.40. However, given the fact the company no longer holds a market edge, it might be wise to wait a bit longer to see if Kodak is truly mounting much of a comeback.
