Sprint shares rise most in 19 months

Sprint Corp. rose 14 percent Monday, the biggest increase in 19 months, as the volatile stock rebounds from a decline in the middle of last week.

Sprint jumped to $3.87, the highest intraday price since July 20, in late morning trading. The company’s 7.875 percent bonds due 2023 were also among the top 10 most-active trades in high yield, according to Trace.

The shares seesawed last week after the wireless carrier reported management changes and quarterly results,. In addition, Masayoshi Son, chairman of Tokyo-based SoftBank Corp., Sprint’s majority owner, said that he was now confident in Sprint’s plans and has no intention to sell his stake.

The stock is among a number of heavily-shorted telecommunications companies that were outperforming the market Monday, said Kevin Smithen, an analyst at Macquarie Securities USA Inc. They include CenturyLink Inc., up as much as 4 percent for the biggest gain in six months, and Frontier Communications Corp., which rose 3.5 percent.

Overland Park-based Sprint earlier Monday announced the expansion of its “Direct 2 You” house call service to Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston.

Through Friday, the stock had dropped 19 percent this year, after losing 61 percent in 2014.

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Sprint shares rise most in 19 months."