Kodak Prints Today With Bulls and Shorts Both Dug In

KODK reports today with a familiar tension on the register: short sellers rebuilt positions sharply through late October, yet options traders remain skewed toward the upside, leaving the two camps pulling in opposite directions into the print.

Short interest rose roughly 19% in a single week to 6.84% of the free float, around 6.59 million shares, before trimming back less than 1% in the most recent session. That pace of rebuilding mirrors the pattern flagged in last week's note: positions drifted lower through early October, then reversed sharply from October 23. The ORTEX short score has held near 56 for the past week, elevated but not at an extreme. The borrow market, however, tells a relaxed story. Availability has actually expanded since last week, now running above 1,000%, meaning roughly ten shares remain available to lend for every one currently borrowed. Cost to borrow is 0.48%, essentially flat on the month. This is a short position built on conviction, not one with any mechanical squeeze pressure behind it.

Options traders are pointing the other way. The put/call ratio has drifted lower to 0.098, below its 20-day average of 0.107 and near the bottom of its 52-week range of 0.08 to 0.35. That skew toward calls has been consistent for several weeks and suggests the broader options market is positioned for a move to the upside. The stock's last earnings event, in August, produced a 5.7% one-day gain and held most of that through the following week. That is the only recent reaction data available, and the memory of it may be contributing to the call-heavy bias heading into today.

The ownership picture adds another layer. B. Thomas Golisano holds 15.8% of shares and is on the register as a Schedule 13D activist filer, having raised his stake from 13.1% in his most recent amendment. BlackRock has also added, bringing its holding to 5.5% of shares. As always with 13D/G disclosures, positions are as last filed and holders can drop below the 5% threshold without a further filing. The stock has fallen 11.6% over the past month to $8.67, sharpening the debate between those who see a re-entry opportunity and those whose rebuilding of short positions suggests continued skepticism about the turnaround narrative.

Today's print is therefore a direct test of whether Kodak's operational progress can justify the activist's conviction against a backdrop of rising short interest and a share price that has given back a meaningful portion of its year-to-date gains.