Kodak shares soar 1,500 per cent on coronavirus drug loan
Shares in Kodak have surged by 1500 per cent since the end of trading last week on the back of a Donald Trump deal that will see the photography company develop drugs to treat coronavirus.
Trump made the announcement of the $795m funding yesterday, sending Kodak’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange soaring by 300 per cent to $25.26 in just one day.
The company’s share price hit as much as $60 at one point yesterday, with trading being stopped 20 times on the exchange due to volatility.
“Our 33rd use of the Defense Production Act will mobilize Kodak to make generic, active pharmaceutical ingredients,” Trump said.
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“We will bring back our jobs and we will make America the world’s premier medical manufacturer and supplier.”
Kodak Executive Chairman Jim Continenza said: “Kodak is proud to be a part of strengthening America’s self-sufficiency in producing the key pharmaceutical ingredients we need to keep our citizens safe.
“By leveraging our vast infrastructure, deep expertise in chemicals manufacturing, and heritage of innovation and quality, Kodak will play a critical role in the return of a reliable American pharmaceutical supply chain.”
The company’s share price began skyrocketing last week in advance of Trump’s announcement, prompting some to speculate that people aware of the funding deal bought up large tranches of shares in anticipation of the announcement.
Continenza himself bought more than 40,000 Kodak shares a month ago, netting himself a profit of more than $1m, after the mammoth stock price increase.