KODK vs VRT: 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. KODK and VRT 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 KODK and VRT 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.

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

Vertiv Holdings designs and manufactures the power and cooling infrastructure inside data centers. The company's products include uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDUs), busways and rack power, computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units, liquid cooling systems, and increasingly the integrated thermal management solutions required to cool AI training racks at high density.

Full VRT guide

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

• KODK drivers: Film demand and pricing; Plate pricing in a shrinking print market.
• VRT drivers: AI rack power and cooling; Liquid cooling adoption.

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: 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. For VRT, hyperscaler AI capex concentration is the primary risk.

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 KODK if you believe its drivers more; VRT 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 KODK and VRT guides.

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.

VRT. Vertiv trades at a premium reflecting the AI buildout tailwind, the demonstrated operating leverage, and the visibility from order backlog. The multiple is sensitive to AI capex cycle expectations; would compress on any hyperscaler pause.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): 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; VRT shows revenue (ttm) ~$9 billion, operating margin ~18% (improving), net income (ttm) ~$1 billion, eps (ttm) ~$2.50.

KODK and VRT 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 KODK and VRT exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.