VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) reported what it called a strong start to 2026, citing record levels in its combined .com and .net domain name base and higher year-over-year revenue and earnings. Executives also announced a forthcoming .com wholesale price increase effective Nov. 1, 2026 and raised the company’s outlook for 2026 domain base growth.
Domain base hits record as registrations and renewals strengthen
Executive Chairman, President and CEO Jim Bidzos said the combined .com and .net domain name base reached a record 176.1 million names in the first quarter, with growth of 2.54 million names from year-end 2025. Bidzos highlighted “the largest” level of new registrations since the first half of 2021, alongside “very strong renewal rates.”
Bidzos said the company saw growth across its three main regions, with “most of the strength coming from the U.S. and EMEA.” He added that registrars remained focused on customer acquisition and engagement with VeriSign’s marketing programs, and he also pointed to “a positive impact from AI tools, which make content and website creation faster and easier.”
On the mix of factors driving stronger demand, Bidzos told Baird analyst Rob Oliver it was difficult to separate the impact of registrar engagement with VeriSign programs from AI-related tailwinds. “I think they sort of collide in a good way with each other and sort of blend together,” Bidzos said, adding that the company knows “for a fact” that engagement with its programs is a significant contributor, while AI tools have made it easier for customers to find a domain name and build a website.
Revenue rises 6.6%; EPS grows 11.4%
For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, CFO John Calys reported revenue of $429 million, up 6.6% from the same quarter a year ago. Operating expenses were $135 million, compared with $140 million in the prior quarter and $131 million a year ago; Calys noted that Q4 2025 included an impairment charge.
Operating income totaled $294 million, up $22 million, or 8.3%, year-over-year. Net income was $215 million, compared with $199 million in the year-ago quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $2.34, up from $2.10 in Q1 2025, representing an 11.4% increase, Calys said.
Operating cash flow was $272 million and free cash flow was $265 million, compared with $286 million in the year-ago quarter, according to Calys.
Capital returns and dividend update
Bidzos said the company returned “over 100%” of free cash flow to shareholders over the last 12 months, totaling $1.13 billion through share repurchases and dividends. VeriSign ended the quarter with $556 million in cash equivalents and marketable securities and had $863 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization, which management said has no expiration.
VeriSign’s board approved a cash dividend of $0.81 per share payable May 27, 2026 to stockholders of record as of May 19, 2026. Bidzos said the company intends to continue paying a quarterly dividend, subject to market conditions and board approval.
Guidance raised for domain base growth; financial outlook updated
Based on trends seen early in 2026 and expectations for the next three quarters, Bidzos said VeriSign increased and narrowed its 2026 guidance for .com and .net domain name base growth to between 3.1% and 4.3%.
Calys also provided updated full-year financial guidance for 2026:
- Revenue: $1.730 billion to $1.745 billion
- Operating income: $1.170 billion to $1.185 billion
- Interest expense and non-operating income, net: expense of $57 million to $67 million
- Capital expenditures: $55 million to $65 million (including “modest structural improvement projects” at headquarters)
- GAAP effective tax rate: 22% to 25%
Calys also addressed renewal rate dynamics, saying the Q1 renewal rate of 76.3% was “very strong.” He noted VeriSign’s programs are designed to “hopefully incentivize” registrars to sell names with better renewal characteristics. However, he also cautioned that strong new registrations in the second half of 2025 could create “a little bit of a challenge” in 2026 because of a higher proportion of first-time renewing names in the second half of 2026. Calys said first-time renewals average in the “mid-40% range,” while previously renewed names are in the “mid-80% range” and have shown improvement over the last year.
.com price increase planned; .net pricing remains unchanged for now
Bidzos said the company has provided notice of a $0.71 increase to the annual wholesale price for .com domains, raising the wholesale price from $10.26 to $10.97 effective Nov. 1, 2026. He described it as the first allowable .com price increase since a February 2024 notice of a $0.67 increase.
Bidzos emphasized that VeriSign is prohibited from selling .com registrations to retail buyers and can only sell to accredited registrars at a capped, regulated price. Registrars, he added, are “entirely price unrestricted” in what they charge retail customers.
Asked by Citi’s Jamesmichael Sherman-Lewis about potential price elasticity and renewal impact after the wholesale increase, Calys said outcomes depend heavily on what registrars do with retail pricing, noting that registrar price increases “could have an effect on either new registrations or renewals.” Bidzos added that $10.97 per year equates to “about $0.03 a day,” which he characterized as modest for most engaged registrants.
On .net pricing, Bidzos said VeriSign has the ability to take 10% annual price increases on .net, but added, “we have not, at this point today, announced a price increase for .net,” describing it as a “well-known, competitively priced” TLD supported by marketing programs.
Separately, Bidzos said the company continued its “record of 100% service availability” and discussed infrastructure capacity, telling Citi that VeriSign maintains “multiple orders of magnitude in excess capacity as one component of our resiliency planning and execution.”
During the Q&A, Bidzos also commented on ICANN’s upcoming application window for a new round of generic top-level domains, noting the last round was in 2012 and that new gTLDs from this round are “likely not launched until 2028.” He said VeriSign is taking technical steps to be ready if it chooses to apply but is “still evaluating” participation ahead of the application window’s close on Aug. 12.
Looking ahead, Bidzos said VeriSign plans to publish a series of blogs in the coming weeks on “the future of high assurance infrastructure,” including “enhanced security components,” and argued that high assurance—defined by availability, performance, and accuracy at global scale—will become increasingly important as reliance on the internet grows.
About VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN)
VeriSign, Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN) is an internet infrastructure company that operates critical components of the global Domain Name System (DNS) and provides cybersecurity-related services. The company is best known as the authoritative registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, maintaining the central databases and zone files that enable domain name resolution for millions of websites. VeriSign’s registry role is performed under contractual agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and involves high-availability, highly secure operations to support continuous internet connectivity.
In addition to its registry business, VeriSign offers a suite of services designed to protect and accelerate DNS and internet traffic for enterprises and service providers.
