Verisign shares fall 4.8% as earnings miss estimates despite revenue beat
Key Facts
Verisign shares fell 4.8% in after-hours trading on Thursday, October 22, 2026, according to Investing coverage, after the company reported third-quarter earnings per share below expectations and revenue above estimates. The company reported diluted earnings per share of $2.35 in its earnings release, compared with expectations of $2.46 shown on the site's earnings page for the company. Reported revenue, meanwhile, reached $443.0 million, exceeding the site's forecast of $440.59 million for the same period. The company had scheduled its third-quarter earnings conference call for October 22 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Ahead of the earnings session, VRSN shares closed at $307.25 on October 21, according to EL7 data. The after-hours move followed results showing year-on-year increases in revenue and earnings per share, alongside a slight decline in net income.
According to Verisign's release, third-quarter revenue rose from $419.1 million in the corresponding period of 2025, while diluted earnings per share increased from $2.27. Net income for the quarter was $212.6 million, compared with $212.8 million a year earlier, diverging from the increase in earnings per share. The results included a pre-tax operating loss of $7.5 million related to assets held for sale, according to the company's official release. Verisign said the loss reduced diluted earnings per share by $0.06 during the reporting quarter. The company reported cash flow from operations of $268 million in the third quarter of 2026.
On the operational front, Verisign ended the third quarter with a base of 182.5 million registrations for ".com" and ".net" domain names, according to the earnings release. The company said the domain base increased 6.1% from the end of the corresponding quarter a year earlier. During the quarter alone, the base added a net 3.36 million domain names, according to the official disclosure. Registrations for the two domains stood at 179.1 million at the end of the second quarter of 2026, according to that period's earnings release. The registration base thus continued to expand between the ends of the two quarters, alongside higher company revenue compared with both the previous quarter and the corresponding period a year earlier.
The latest results follow a second quarter in which Verisign reported revenue of about $435 million, according to its release for that period of 2026. Revenue growth then was 6.0% year on year, before revenue reached a higher level in the third quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $2.38 in the second quarter, leaving the current figure below the previous quarter despite rising from the corresponding period of 2025. In July, the company also announced an increase in its full-year outlook as part of its second-quarter results disclosure. Verisign said in that release, "We are also raising our outlook," a move that preceded third-quarter results in which revenue exceeded Investing estimates while earnings per share fell short.
As part of its domain business expansion, Verisign announced the addition of the ".web" domain to the global Domain Name System root zone. According to the company's announcement, it was designated the domain's registry operator, alongside its business in ".com" and ".net" registrations. Chief Executive Jim Bidzos said in the third-quarter earnings release that the launch of ".web" was "on track." On shareholder distributions, the company announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.81 per share, according to the same earnings release. Verisign set November 24, 2026, as the payment date for the next cash dividend.