A Frightening Picture

Former industry titan Eastman Kodak reported disappointing results as the stock declined over 15% on Wednesday. Allan Edwards co-CEO of The Markets Are Open said "you know the results are going to be terrible when you have to go to the third paragraph or halfway through the earnings report to see net income." In the quarter net income was -162 million or a loss of 61 cents a share which was a 9 cent improvement from a year ago period. Kodak's revenue shrunk 11% from the previous year's quarter as customers continue to shift out of their products especially the film camera division which saw its revenue tank 21%.

CEO of Kodak Antonio M. Perez remarked "We continue to gain share in our growth businesses, maintain cost discipline, and drive improved profitability." Edwards disagreed with this point "The CEO is completely incorrect in his predictions. Kodak continues to see sharp revenue decline and its few divisions which are growing such as commercial inkjet are not growing fast enough to offset the declines in their other businesses."

Kodak continues to try to cut costs, for example year over year research and development expenses declined 3 million dollars which is an important measure of how much a company is willing to invest for the future. Asked what he disliked the most about Kodak's results Edwards finished "it is a trust issue with this company, Kodak always paints a rosy picture, they pick gross margins which are seemingly impossible to estimate future results and when these predictions do not come to fruition the shareholder incurs the losses as seen today. Kodak continues to be on a one stop track to bankruptcy where they can join Blockbuster as companies which 10 years ago were industry titans and today sit like the great Prometheus with his hands and legs bound to a rock being eaten away awaiting death.