HP vs KODK: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. HP and KODK share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined HP and KODK exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. is one of the largest contract drilling companies in the world, best known for its fleet of advanced land rigs used to drill oil and gas wells in the United States, where it operates more rigs in the Permian Basin than any competitor in the Lower 48. It also runs international land rigs and a smaller set of offshore platform rigs and labor contracts. H&P does not own the oil and gas it helps produce; it earns fees from energy producers for supplying rigs, drilling technology, and crews, so its business is a service to the exploration-and-production industry.

Full HP guide

Eastman Kodak Company is no longer a camera company. It makes money in three reportable segments. Print (~$715 million of 2025 revenue) sells aluminum offset printing plates, the platesetters that image them, PROSPER continuous-inkjet presses and print heads, ink, and PRINERGY workflow software to commercial printers, publishers and packaging makers. Prepress plates alone were 52% of total 2025 revenue, a recurring stream because every print run needs a new plate. Advanced Materials and Chemicals (AM&C, ~$316 million) makes still and motion picture film, industrial film for printed circuit boards, specialty chemicals including starting materials for drugs and battery materials, and runs contract coating services. Brand (~$27 million) licenses the Kodak name to camera, eyewear, battery and apparel makers. More than half of sales come from outside the US, and the company employed about 3,500 people in 27 countries at the end of 2025.

Full KODK guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• HP drivers: US land-drilling leadership; International expansion and the Middle East.
• KODK drivers: Film demand and pricing; Plate pricing in a shrinking print market.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The dominant risk is cyclicality: H&P's revenue depends on producers' drilling budgets, which rise and fall with oil and gas prices, so a downturn in energy prices can quickly cut rig demand, utilization, and day rates. For KODK, commodity costs are the most direct threat: aluminum is the main input for printing plates and silver for film, and in the June 2026 quarter higher aluminum costs took about $8 million out of Print and higher silver costs about $4 million out of AM&C, while inventory rose $37 million as Kodak bought metal at higher prices.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick HP if you believe its drivers more; KODK if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the HP and KODK guides.

HP. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. As a cyclical oil-services company, H&P's earnings can swing between profit and loss with drilling activity, so a single quarter says little about the through-cycle picture. Valuation depends heavily on where oil and gas prices and drilling budgets are headed and on how smoothly the international expansion ramps, rather than on a static earnings multiple.

KODK. The last four quarters add up to revenue of about $1.14 billion and Operational EBITDA of about $102 million, against an equity value near $0.9 billion and net cash after the pension-funded debt paydown. That is under 10 times trailing Operational EBITDA, a measure that excludes pension income, restructuring and other items. GAAP results are messier: 2025 ended with a $128 million net loss driven by the pension termination, and the first half of 2026 was roughly break-even. The quarterly trend is the clearest signal, with Operational EBITDA rising from $2 million in Q1 2025 to $36 million in Q2 2026.

Headline figures (approximate, Jul 2026): HP shows business model Contract drilling: supplies land and offshore rigs, technology, and crews to oil and gas producers for fees, fleet Roughly 202 US land rigs, about 130 international land rigs, and a handful of offshore platform rigs as of fiscal Q2 2026, market position Operates more rigs in the Permian Basin than any competitor in the Lower 48, recent results Fiscal Q2 2026 adjusted net loss on soft North American activity and high Saudi rig-reactivation costs; KODK shows revenue (ttm to june 2026) ~$1.14B, operational ebitda (ttm, non-gaap) ~$102M, gaap net income (ttm) ~-$94M (one-off pension charges in Q4 2025), q2 2026 gaap net income $17M on $311M revenue.

HP and KODK are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined HP and KODK exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.