VeriSign (VRSN) Q1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Revenue for Q1 2025 was $402.3 million, up 5% year-over-year, driven by price increases for .com and .net domains despite a 1.5% decrease in the domain name base compared to Q1 2024.

• Net income for Q1 was $199.3 million, up from $194.1 million in Q1 2024, and diluted EPS increased to $2.10 from $1.92.

• 169.8 million .com and .net domain registrations as of March 31, 2025, with 10.1 million new registrations, up from 9.5 million a year ago.

• Initiated a quarterly cash dividend of $0.77 per share, with intent to continue quarterly payments.

• Returned $1.2 billion to shareholders via share repurchases over the last four quarters.

Financial highlights

• Operating income rose 5% to $271.2 million, and operating margin remained strong at 67.4%.

• Cash flow from operations increased to $291.3 million from $257.3 million year-over-year; free cash flow was $286 million.

• Ended Q1 2025 with $649 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.

• Repurchased 1.0 million shares for $230 million; $793 million remains authorized for future repurchases.

• Deferred revenues reached $1.36 billion, up $57 million from year-end 2024.

Outlook and guidance

• Full-year 2025 revenue expected between $1,635 million and $1,650 million, with operating income guidance at $1.110 billion to $1.125 billion.

• Domain name base change for 2025 expected between -0.7% and +0.9%.

• Interest expense and non-operating income net expected at $50–$60 million; capex at $30–$40 million.

• GAAP effective tax rate expected between 21% and 24%.

• Management expects existing cash and cash flow to be sufficient for all obligations for at least the next 12 months.