Verisign — Financial Results
Revenue Grew 6% to $1.66 Billion, Driven by Price Increases and a Recovering Domain Base
| Metric | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,557.4M | $1,656.6M | +6% |
| Operating Income | ~$1,057M | $1,121.0M | +6% |
| .com and .net registrations | 169.0M | 173.5M | +2.6% |
Revenue growth came from two sources: higher prices (the wholesale fee for .com rose from $9.59 to $10.26 in September 2024) and more domain names being registered. The domain base had actually shrunk in 2024 but bounced back in 2025, with new registrations jumping from 37.4 million to 41.7 million. Renewal rates (the share of existing domains that customers keep) also improved, rising from 72.2% to 75.4% year-over-year.
Operating Margins Remain Exceptionally Stable, but Admin Costs Are Creeping Up
| Expense | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues | $191.4M | $196.3M | +3% |
| Selling, general & admin | $211.1M | $235.7M | +12% |
| Operating margin | 67.9% | 67.7% | -0.2pp |
The business converts roughly 68 cents of every revenue dollar into operating income, which is remarkably consistent. The one area to watch is selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, which rose 12% — faster than revenue — due to higher bonuses, stock-based compensation, software costs, and legal fees.
Operating Cash Flow Surged 21% to $1.09 Billion
Cash flow from operations jumped from $902.6 million to $1,091.1 million, a $188 million increase. A meaningful contributor was a U.S. tax law change (the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act") that restored the immediate deduction of research and development spending, reducing cash paid for income taxes. This strong cash generation is what funds the company's shareholder returns program.
The Company Launched a Dividend and Continued Aggressive Buybacks
In April 2025, Verisign paid its first-ever quarterly cash dividend, distributing $215.2 million to shareholders during the year. The Board has since raised the quarterly dividend by 5.2% to $0.81 per share. Separately, the company repurchased $858.6 million worth of its own shares in 2025 and still had $1.08 billion authorized for future buybacks. Together, dividends and buybacks represent a significant return of cash to investors.
The .com Contract Is Locked In Through 2030, With Pricing Power Built In
Verisign renewed its agreement with ICANN (the nonprofit that oversees internet domain names) in November 2024, securing its exclusive right to operate the .com registry through November 2030. Importantly, the agreement allows price increases of up to 7% in each of the final four years of every six-year period. This contractually protected pricing power is a core feature of the business model.