VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), the registry for .Com and .Net reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2014 after the market closed today and lets face it .com and net growth are basically stalled.
VeriSign, Inc. reported revenue of $250 million for the second quarter of 2014, up 4.6% from the same quarter in 2013.
Verisign reported net income of $100 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.71 for the second quarter of 2014, compared to net income of $87 million and diluted EPS of $0.55 in the same quarter in 2013.
The operating margin was 57.2 percent for the second quarter of 2014 compared to 55.2 percent for the same quarter in 2013.
Second Quarter Non-GAAP Financial Results
Verisign reported, on a non-GAAP basis, net income of $96 million and diluted EPS of $0.68 for the second quarter of 2014, compared to net income of $92 million and diluted EPS of $0.58 for the same quarter in 2013.
Financial Highlights
Verisign ended the second quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.5 billion, a decrease of $178 million as compared with year-end 2013.
Cash flow from operations was $121 million for the second quarter compared with $147 million for the same quarter in 2013.
On July 23, 2014, the Board of Directors approved an additional authorization for share repurchases of approximately $491 million of common stock, which brings the total amount to $1 billion authorized and available under Verisign’s share buyback program, which has no expiration.
Business Highlights
Verisign Registry Services added 0.42 million net new names during the second quarter, ending with 128.9 million active domain names in the zone for .com and .net, which represents a 3.7 percent increase over the zone at the end of the second quarter in 2013.
In the second quarter, Verisign processed 8.5 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net as compared to 8.7 million for the same period in 2013.
The final .com and .net renewal rate for the first quarter of 2014 was 72.6 percent compared with 73.2 percent for the same quarter in 2013. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.
Verisign announced an increase in the annual fee for a .net domain name registration from $6.18 to $6.79, effective February 1, 2015, per its agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Hello MHB,
The only % that counts, is the percentage of existing .Com extensions that are listed in the top ROI tranches, Globally. Do you happen to know that?
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Domain Master)
The marginalization of existing namespaces has only begun. Every new registration in a New GTLD, is a registration that was not taken in existing spaces. Some new GTLDs like .PARIS with marginalize the .FR CCtld of the Country it lives in and some generic names like .LINK, .WEB and .WORLD will marginalize the less good .NET .INFO and .BIZ names of the World. In the long run, “everything” coming to bear will marginalize .COM to some degree. .COM will continue to grow but it will grow much, much slower than the myriad of new spaces competing down against it. Exciting times of change and innovation to be sure. There are no losers here, just some bigger winners than others.
“No losers”? Wow, sounds like all of the investors must be lighting their cigars with $100 bills already.
Many registrations in new gTLDs were already taken in the older gTLDs. The really interesting ones are the TLD unique registrations (the ones that only appear in a new gTLD but not in any legacy gTLD or ccTLD). The city gTLDs like .PARIS are turning into a kind of pseudo ccTLDs each with its own clearly defined market. The problem for a lot of the new gTLDs is that they have not, in consumer terms, clearly defined their market. The legacy gTLDs (NET/INFO/BIZ) are already losing domains month on month and this is not due to the launch of the new gTLDs or any reorganisation of the namespaces. It is simply because development costs money and registration fees without development or PPC revenue is money down the drain. These reasons, and economic conditions and natural attrition, are driving a lot of the drops. Some new gTLDs are already showing signs of life and a few are quite surprising in the way that their registrants have begun to identify with them. However a few are going to struggle. The highly generic strings are going to have the biggest problems because they will be competing against the mature market of .COM and the ccTLDs. The ones to watch are the ones who are defining and creating their own markets rather than relying on being a me-too TLD.
Hello Frank.Schilling ?????
The Marginalization you speak of will certainly marginalize the new Derivative GTLD extensions. Wall Street is savvy to the coming GTLD Derivatives debacle. GTLDs are replica echoes of Derivatives. Are you sure you want to follow your adman over the cliff?
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Domain Master)
Jeff, next time use bigger words and be more dramatic… add the word “wall street” a few more times as well.
@Frank Schilling,
On the day that .COM is marginal, I will eat the soles of my shoes.