When Eastman Kodak Co. reports earnings on Thursday, it won't be profit that investors will be looking for. It will be cash.

The U.S. company posted a surprisingly low cash total of $957 million last quarter, but reassured Wall Street that it typically generates cash in the second half of the year, when it sells built-up inventories heading into the holiday season. Recent moves by the company, based in Rochester, N.Y., signaled that it burned rather than generated cash in its third quarter. The question is how much.

In September, a week before Kodak's third quarter ended, the company pulled $160 million from its credit line, prompting a steep sell-off in its shares. Later, the company enlisted the restructuring services of law firm Jones Day, and hired FTI Consulting Inc., a firm that specializes in restructuring. In the past two months, Kodak talked with hedge funds to explore borrowing nearly $1 billion in rescue financing, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chris Whitmore, a Deutsche Bank analyst, said he believes Kodak's operations burned more than $200 million in the third quarter. That would be the most the company burned in the period since Mr. Perez became CEO in 2005.

'Competitive pressures, drawing down its credit line, reaching out to investors for bridge financing, lack of IP settlements