UPDATE 25 Apr 2019: Verisign First Quarter 2019 Results (pdf)
First Quarter GAAP Financial Results: VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $306 million for the first quarter of 2019, up 2.4 percent from the same quarter in 2018. Verisign reported net income of $163 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $1.35 for the first quarter of 2019, compared to net income of $134 million and diluted EPS of $1.09 for the same quarter in 2018. The operating margin was 65.4 percent for the first quarter of 2019 compared to 62.0 percent for the same quarter in 2018.
Financial Highlights: Verisign ended the first quarter of 2019 with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.25 billion, a decrease of $17 million from the end of 2018. During the first quarter of 2019, Verisign repatriated $249 million of cash held by foreign subsidiaries, net of foreign withholding taxes. Cash flow from operating activities was $187 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared with $90 million for the same quarter in 2018. Deferred revenues as of March 31, 2019 totaled $1.05 billion, an increase of $29 million from the end of 2018. During the first quarter of 2019, Verisign repurchased 1.0 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate cost of $175 million. As of March 31, 2019, there was $891 million remaining for future share repurchases under the share repurchase program which has no expiration date.
Business Highlights: Verisign ended the first quarter of 2019 with 154.8 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 4.4 percent increase from the end of the first quarter of 2018, and a net increase of 1.82 million during the first quarter of 2019 [Editor's note: .net registrations actually declined (see this News Review 4)a.), so the growth is all attributable to .com]. During the first quarter of 2019, Verisign processed 9.8 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, compared to 9.6 million for the same quarter in 2018. The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2018 was 74.3 percent compared with 72.2 percent for the same quarter in 2017. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.
Editor's note: during the conference call webcast 25 Apr 2019, CEO & Chairman James Bidzos said Verisign was in negotiations with ICANN in regard to .COM pricing and Amendment 35 to the Cooperative Agreement with the US government (NTIA), but had nothing to report of substance, and likewise, there was nothing new to report in regard to .WEB other than Verisign is still attempting to intervene as a party in the pending arbitration (IRP), Afilias vs ICANN. Guidance for total 2019 (domain name base) growth in .COM & .NET combined: 2.5 to 4.25 percent.
VeriSign, Inc. (domain: verisign.com), is registry operator for .COM and other Top-Level Domains (TLDs), manager of 2 of the world's DNS root zone's 13 authoritative name servers, serves as the root zone maintainer, and is a global provider of other domain name registry services and internet infrastructure. VeriSign's headquarters: Reston, VA; Chairman & CEO: D. James Bidzos.
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Editor's note: during the conference call webcast 25 Apr 2019, CEO & Chairman James Bidzos said Verisign was in negotiations with ICANN in regard to .COM pricing and Amendment 35 to the Cooperative Agreement with the US government (NTIA), but had nothing to report of substance, and likewise, there was nothing new to report in regard to .WEB other than Verisign is still attempting to intervene as a party in the pending arbitration (IRP), Afilias vs ICANN. Guidance for total 2019 (domain name base) growth in .COM & .NET combined: 2.5 to 4.25 percent.
VeriSign, Inc. (domain: verisign.com), is registry operator for .COM and other Top-Level Domains (TLDs), manager of 2 of the world's DNS root zone's 13 authoritative name servers, serves as the root zone maintainer, and is a global provider of other domain name registry services and internet infrastructure. VeriSign's headquarters: Reston, VA; Chairman & CEO: D. James Bidzos.
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