VeriSign (VRSN) Q2 Domain Name Registrations Rise 1.2% Y/Y
VeriSign VRSN announced that domain name registrations increased 4.3 million or 1.2% year over year across all top-level domains (TLDs) in the second quarter of 2023. Sequentially, domain name registrations were up 0.5% to 356.6 million.
The company continues to benefit from healthy growth across .com and .net domain name registrations. For 2023, the company expects domain name base growth rate to be flat to rise 1% due to continued uncertainty and weakness related to China. The domain name base growth was projected to be between 0.5% and 2.25%.
In the second quarter, the .com and .net TLDs increased 0.1 million domain name registrations, or 0.1% year over year to 174.4 million. Also, the .com and .net domain name bases totaled 161.3 million and 13.1 million domain name registrations, respectively, for the quarter that ended on Jun 30, 2023.
VeriSign, Inc. Price and Consensus
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The company processed 10.2 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net compared with 10.1 million in the prior-year quarter.
In the second quarter, the final .com and .net renewal rate for first-quarter 2023 was 75.5% compared with 75.9% in the year-ago quarter. Management expects the renewal rate for second-quarter 2023 to be around 73.4% compared with 73.8% in the year-ago quarter.
VeriSign marginally lowered the higher end of its revenue guidance. Management now expects 2023 revenues between $1.49 billion and $1.50 billion compared with the earlier guided range of $1.49-$1.505 billion.
VeriSign provides Internet infrastructure services that include domain name registry services and infrastructure assurance services. The company continues to expand its critical infrastructure to tap the growing demand for DNS navigation services in industries like commerce, education and healthcare.
The company announced that from Feb 1, 2024, it will increase the annual registry-level wholesale price for .net domain names by 99 cents to $10.91 from $9.92.
VeriSign currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of VRSN have gained 10.9% compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 13.1% in the past year.
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