DISH bonds mixed but mostly lower; CommScope gains; Lumen higher; Level 3 notes weaken

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Nov. 7 – DISH Network Corp.’s bonds remained volatile on Tuesday after the bonds shed around 4 points to more than 10 points on Monday after the company reported earnings losses.

DISH DBS Corp.’s 7¾% senior notes due 2026 (Caa2/B-) slid more than 10 points on Monday before recovering some only to shed over 5 points on Tuesday.

Some of DISH’s distressed paper saw gains over the day in strong activity.

The 5 1/8% senior notes due 2029 (Caa2/B-) were up ½ point on $9 million of trading on Tuesday.

Treasury yields declined 7 basis points to 9 bps over the day. The benchmark 10-year note yield was down 9 bps at 4.57%.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.28%.

The iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF added 1 cent, or 0.01%, to $74.12.

The CBOE Volatility index softened 0.54% to 14.81.

CommScope Holding Co., Inc.’s bonds also saw strong interest in the secondary market with about $20 million of paper changing hands, a source said.

CommScope’s paper was mostly higher on the day with the 6% senior notes due 2025 (Caa1/CCC+) up ½ point on $15 million of trading.

In addition, Lumen Technologies, Inc.’s 4% senior secured notes due 2027 (Caa2/B/B-) climbed higher in some of the day’s busiest trading, a source said.

The notes rose 2¼ points on $14.09 million of volume.

Lumen subsidiary Level 3 Financing, Inc.’s paper shed about 4 points to over 6½ points during the session.

DISH volatile

DISH DBS’ 7¾% senior notes due 2026 (Caa2/B-) moved lower on Tuesday after sinking more than 10 points in the prior session ahead of a short-lived recovery, a source reported.

The notes dropped 5¼ points to head out at 61¼ bid and a 29.95% yield on $9 million of secondary action.

On Monday, the notes were quoted down 10½ points at 59¾ bid and a 31.13% yield on $11.84 million of volume.

DISH’s 5 7/8% senior notes due 2024 (Caa2/B-) declined 1/8 point to trade Tuesday at 86 bid on $17.6 million of activity. The issue was among the most active junk bonds but carrying a yield of 21.98% put it in the distressed space.

On Monday, the bonds slid over 8 points to 84¼ bid on $41.73 million of trading.

Meanwhile, DISH’s 5 1/8% senior notes due 2029 (Caa2/B-) were up ½ point at 47½ bid and a 21.9% yield on $9 million of trading on Tuesday.

In the prior session, the issue was quoted down 6 points at 47 bid on $11.99 million of secondary volume.

DISH 5¼% notes due 2026 (B2/B) also were up over 1¾ points at around 81 bid and a 12.92% yield on $4.5 million of trading on Tuesday.

On Monday, DISH Network announced that revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 dropped to $3.7 billion from $4.1 billion a year ago, while losses totaled $139 million following $412 million of income in the same period last year in part due to diminishing subscribers.

The Englewood, Colo.-based satellite cable operator’s stock (Nasdaq: DISH) recovered 2.33% on Tuesday to close at $3.52 after sinking 37.43% on Monday.

CommScope notes up

CommScope Technologies LLC’s 6% senior notes due 2025 (Caa1/CCC+) picked up ½ point to go out Tuesday at 72 bid on $15 million of trading, a source said.

The bonds finished the prior week down more than 12 points at 71¾ bid.

The yield was 29.08%.

CommScope, Inc.’s 7 1/8% senior notes due 2028 (Caa1/CCC+) traded up ½ point to 42 bid on $4.6 million of volume over the day.

The Hickory, N.C.-based network infrastructure manufacturer reported last week that it expects preliminary third-quarter losses and adjusted its 2023 EBITDA forecast downward.

Lumen paper gains

Lumen’s 4% senior secured notes due 2027 (Caa2/B/B-) climbed 2¼ points on $14.09 million of volume on Tuesday, a source said.

The notes were quoted at 59¼ bid with a yield of 22.17%.

Subsidiary Level 3’s 3¾% senior notes due 2029 (B3/CCC+/CCC+) dropped 4 points to 34½ bid with a 26.84% yield on $3.6 million of trading.

The bonds were quoted back on Sept. 8 at 60 bid.

Level 3’s 3 5/8% senior notes due 2029 (B3/CCC+/CCC+) fell 4¼ points to 34¾ bid and a 28.4% yield on $7.4 million of volume on Tuesday also.

The Denver-based telecommunications company plans to conduct a debt exchange after reaching an agreement with creditors holding about $7 billion of its debt.

Distressed returns weak

S&P U.S. High Yield Corporate Distressed Bond index one-day total returns kicked the week off lower at minus 0.21% on Monday.

One-day returns were down from 1.16% on Friday but improved from minus 0.49% in the same session a week ago.

Month-to-date total returns softened to 0.92% on Monday from 1.13% ahead of the weekend.

Year-to-date distressed total returns fell to 11.52% from 11.75% on Friday but were up from 11.42% in the week-ago session.

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