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Verisign
(NASDAQ:VRSN)
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Rating:65Neutral
Price Target:
$270.00
▼(-1.48% Downside)
Action:Downgraded
Date:06/27/26
The score is primarily driven by very strong profitability and free-cash-flow generation, partly offset by an aggressive capital structure (debt with deeply negative equity) and modest growth. Technicals meaningfully drag the score due to a clear downtrend across key moving averages and negative MACD, despite oversold readings. Guidance and operating commentary were broadly positive (raised/narrowed domain growth and solid financial guidance), while valuation looks reasonable but not cheap at a ~27.7 P/E with a ~1.26% dividend yield.
Positive Factors
High Profitability & Margins
Verisign's very high gross and operating margins reflect an asset-light, scale-driven registry model with low incremental costs. Durable margin advantage supports operating leverage, protects cash generation through cycles, and funds reinvestment or returns without heavy capex needs.
Negative Factors
High Leverage & Negative Equity
Material leverage and deeply negative equity reduce balance-sheet flexibility and increase refinancing and interest-rate exposure. Limited equity cushion raises downside risk in stress scenarios and constrains strategic optionality like sizable M&A or sustained buybacks.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
High Profitability & Margins
Verisign's very high gross and operating margins reflect an asset-light, scale-driven registry model with low incremental costs. Durable margin advantage supports operating leverage, protects cash generation through cycles, and funds reinvestment or returns without heavy capex needs.
Read all positive factors
Verisign Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Revenue by Geography
Breaks down revenue across different regions, revealing where the company is strongest and where it may face risk or growth potential due to local economic conditions or market share shifts.
Breaks down revenue across different regions, revealing where the company is strongest and where it may face risk or growth potential due to local economic conditions or market share shifts.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyVerisign (VRSN) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$24.58B
Dividend Yield0.94%
Average Volume (3M)829.12K
Price to Earnings (P/E)29.7
Beta (1Y)0.50
Revenue Growth6.84%
EPS Growth10.70%
CountryUS
Employees929
SectorTechnology
Sector Strength88
IndustrySoftware - Infrastructure
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)9.06
Shares Outstanding91,000,000
10 Day Avg. Volume697,562
30 Day Avg. Volume829,117
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio2.69
Price to Book (P/B)-10.42
Price to Sales (P/S)13.55
P/FCF Ratio21.01
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.03
Enterprise Value/Revenue15.11
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit17.10
Enterprise Value/Ebitda21.30
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$327.67Price Target Upside19.56% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering3
EPS Forecast (FY)9.84
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.75B
Verisign Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
VeriSign, Inc., along with its affiliates, provides fundamental internet infrastructure and domain name registration services, which enable global web navigation across numerous recognized online addresses. The company plays a crucial role in upho...
How the Company Makes Money
VeriSign makes money primarily by operating domain name registries and charging fees tied to domain registrations and renewals. Its core revenue stream is registry services for .com and .net, where it performs back-end functions such as maintainin...
Verisign Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Apr 23, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 23, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call communicated multiple strong operational and financial wins: record domain base, the largest new registrations since 2021, YoY revenue and EPS growth, robust cash generation and shareholder returns, narrowed and raised guidance for domain base growth, and a long track record of 100% availability and large excess infrastructure capacity. Offsetting items include materially lower first-time renewal rates (mid-40%), uncertainty around the retail impact of the announced .com wholesale price increase, security risks arising from AI that may require additional product investment, and some uncertainty related to the ICANN new gTLD round. On balance, the positive growth, cash returns, and infrastructure reliability materially outweigh the noted challenges, though management will need to monitor renewal cohorts and registrar pricing dynamics.Positive Updates
Record Domain Base and Strong Registration Activity
Combined .com and .net base reached a record 176.1 million names; domain name base grew by 2.54 million from year-end 2025. New registrations were 11.5 million in Q1 (vs. 10.7 million last quarter and 10.1 million YoY), the largest quarterly new registrations since 2021.
Negative Updates
Low First-Timer Renewal Rates
First-time renewals average in the mid-40% range, which is materially below previously renewed names (mid-80% range) and creates a headwind as 2025's strong new-registration cohort comes up for renewal in 2026.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Record Domain Base and Strong Registration Activity
Combined .com and .net base reached a record 176.1 million names; domain name base grew by 2.54 million from year-end 2025. New registrations were 11.5 million in Q1 (vs. 10.7 million last quarter and 10.1 million YoY), the largest quarterly new registrations since 2021.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
The company narrowed 2026 guidance to domain name base growth of 3.1%–4.3% and updated full‑year financial guidance of revenue $1.73B–$1.745B and operating income $1.17B–$1.185B; interest and non‑operating items are expected to be a small net expense (up to about $7M), capital expenditures $55M–$65M, and a GAAP effective tax rate of 22%–25%. Management also announced a $0.71 wholesale .com price increase to $10.97 effective 11/01/2026, declared a $0.81 per‑share cash dividend payable 05/27/2026 (record 05/19/2026), noted $556M in cash and equivalents at quarter‑end and $863M of remaining share‑repurchase capacity, and reiterated strong free cash flow generation and domain metrics underpinning the guidance.Verisign Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
86
Very Positive
Balance Sheet
38
Negative
Cash Flow
82
Very Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 1.68B | 1.66B | 1.56B | 1.49B | 1.42B | 1.33B |
| Gross Profit | 1.49B | 1.46B | 1.37B | 1.30B | 1.22B | 1.14B |
| EBITDA | 1.19B | 1.17B | 1.13B | 1.10B | 1.00B | 913.41M |
| Net Income | 840.90M | 955.50M | 785.70M | 817.60M | 673.80M | 784.80M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 1.30B | 1.33B | 1.41B | 1.75B | 1.73B | 1.98B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 556.40M | 580.50M | 599.90M | 926.40M | 980.40M | 1.21B |
| Total Debt | 1.79B | 1.80B | 1.80B | 1.80B | 1.79B | 1.79B |
| Total Liabilities | 3.51B | 3.48B | 3.36B | 3.33B | 3.30B | 3.24B |
| Stockholders Equity | -2.21B | -2.15B | -1.96B | -1.58B | -1.56B | -1.26B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 1.05B | 1.07B | 874.50M | 808.00M | 803.70M | 754.12M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 1.07B | 1.09B | 902.60M | 853.80M | 831.10M | 807.15M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -21.30M | 109.10M | 286.30M | -97.40M | 355.70M | -269.25M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -1.15B | -1.10B | -1.22B | -889.80M | -1.04B | -719.13M |
Verisign Technical Analysis
Positive
274.05
Price Trends
278.99
Negative
263.41
Positive
256.70
Positive
Market Momentum
-3.87
Negative
52.39
Neutral
89.15
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For VRSN, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 274.05 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 261.96, below the 50-day MA of 278.99, and above the 200-day MA of 256.70, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -3.87 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 52.39 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 89.15 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for VRSN.
Verisign Risk Analysis
Verisign disclosed 25 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Verisign reported the most risks in the "Tech & Innovation" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Verisign Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
79 Outperform | $115.40B | 60.61 | 155.65% | ― | 15.75% | 6.24% | |
71 Outperform | $11.77B | 13.85 | 366.90% | ― | 7.96% | 19.77% | |
70 Outperform | $13.73B | 13.21 | 36.43% | ― | 5.84% | 27.53% | |
68 Neutral | $22.52B | -291.18 | -3.71% | ― | 24.61% | -91.58% | |
65 Neutral | $24.58B | 29.65 | -39.99% | 0.94% | 6.84% | 10.70% | |
61 Neutral | $37.18B | 12.37 | -10.20% | 1.83% | 8.50% | -7.62% | |
57 Neutral | $7.78B | -51.11 | -2.30% | ― | 23.96% | 78.71% |
* Technology Sector Average
VRSN
Verisign
270.11
-11.02
-3.92%
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GDDY
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ZS
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139.27
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SAIL
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13.71
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Verisign Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyPrivate Placements and Financing
Verisign Issues New Senior Notes to Refinance Debt
Positive
Jun 26, 2026
On June 18, 2026, Verisign entered into an underwriting agreement with J.P. Morgan Securities, BofA Securities and U.S. Bancorp Investments for a registered offering of $550 million in 5.100% Senior Notes due 2031, with closing expected on June 26...
Business Operations and StrategyShareholder Meetings
Verisign Stockholders Approve Amended Long-Term Incentive Plan
Positive
May 21, 2026
At its May 21, 2026 annual meeting, VeriSign stockholders approved an amendment and restatement of the company’s 2006 Equity Incentive Plan, extending its termination date to May 21, 2036 while making technical and administrative updates wit...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.