VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
VeriSign (VRSN) runs the authoritative registries for .com and .net, the internet's most valuable address space, and earns a wholesale fee on every one of ~179 million names. That near-monopoly turns ~$1.7 billion of yearly revenue into operating margins near 68%. At ~$302 in mid-October 2026 (market cap ~$27 billion, ~33x trailing earnings), the stock is priced as a premium, low-volatility compounder.
VRSN stock price
As of 2026-10-16, VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) last closed at $302.34, up 14.2% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $211.49 and $310.00.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or VeriSign, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) do?
VeriSign, Inc. is the registry operator for the .com and .net top-level domains, which together held about 179.1 million registrations at the end of June 2026. It does not sell domains to the public. Registrars such as GoDaddy, Namecheap and Tucows do that, and each time they register or renew a .com name they pay VeriSign a wholesale fee of $10.26 a year, rising to $10.97 on November 1, 2026. VeriSign also runs the infrastructure that keeps those names resolving around the clock, operates two of the internet's 13 root servers, and is the registry for the newly delegated .web extension. Its .com pricing is set by a registry agreement with ICANN and a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce (NTIA), which permit increases of up to 7% in four of every six years.
The second quarter of 2026 showed a business that has returned to volume growth. Revenue rose 6.0% year over year to ~$434.6 million, operating income rose to ~$296.3 million (a 68.2% margin), and diluted EPS climbed 7.7% to $2.38. The domain base grew 5.1% from a year earlier after shrinking through 2023 and 2024, helped by a record 12.7 million new registrations in the quarter, up from 10.4 million a year before. Management raised its full-year 2026 outlook to revenue of ~$1.745 to $1.755 billion and domain base growth of 5.2% to 6%, up from a prior 3.1% to 4.3%. The board also added ~$884 million to the buyback authorization, taking it to about $1.5 billion.
The investment picture is a classic toll road with a regulatory overlay. VeriSign returns more than all of its free cash flow through buybacks and a quarterly dividend of $0.81, so the share count falls steadily and per-share earnings outgrow net income. Berkshire Hathaway has been a large holder for more than a decade. The debate is about price and durability: at ~33x trailing earnings the stock assumes the domain recovery lasts, while a consumer antitrust class action filed in September 2026 challenges the .com pricing model that the whole valuation rests on.
What's driving VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)?
1. Contractual .com price increases
The wholesale .com fee rises from $10.26 to $10.97 on November 1, 2026, a ~6.9% increase permitted under the Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Commerce. The fee was $7.85 until 2021 and has stepped up roughly every year or two since, so the base price is now about 40% higher than five years ago once the November increase lands. Because the registry's costs are mostly fixed (servers, security, staff), nearly every extra dollar of price drops straight to operating income. With ~179 million names, each $0.71 step adds on the order of $100 million of annual revenue once the renewal cycle catches up, which is why these increases are the single biggest earnings lever and the reason the regulatory framework matters so much.
2. Domain base back to growth
The .com and .net base reached ~179.1 million names in Q2 2026, up 3.05 million in the quarter and 5.1% year over year, reversing the declines of 2023 and 2024. New registrations hit a record 12.7 million, up about 22% from 10.4 million a year earlier, and the final Q1 2026 renewal rate improved to 76.3% from 75.5%. Management raised full-year domain base growth guidance to 5.2% to 6%. The open question is quality: first-time registrations renew at lower rates than mature names, and the preliminary Q2 renewal rate of ~75.2% was slightly lower. If this year's wave of new names, including AI startups and side projects, renews at normal rates, volume growth can compound alongside price.
3. Relentless capital return
VeriSign spends essentially all of its free cash flow, and sometimes more, on shareholders. In the first half of 2026 it generated ~$478 million of free cash flow while spending ~$427 million on buybacks and ~$148 million on dividends. In Q2 alone it repurchased 0.7 million shares for ~$197 million, and in July the board lifted the remaining authorization to about $1.5 billion with no expiration. The dividend, introduced in late 2024 at $0.77 a quarter, was raised to $0.81 in 2026, a payout ratio of roughly 34% of earnings. A steadily shrinking share count is why EPS grew 7.7% in Q2 while net income grew 4.4%, and it is a core part of the long-run per-share return.
4. Optionality from .web
.web was delegated into the DNS root zone in 2026 with VeriSign as registry operator, ending roughly a decade of disputes over the 2016 auction in which VeriSign funded the winning bid of about $135 million. Management has described a launch in late 2026 or early 2027, including a limited registration window for existing .com holders and more flexible wholesale pricing than .com's regulated fee. It is tiny relative to a 179 million name base, and analysts on the Q2 call pressed on go-to-market plans and revenue impact, so timing and contribution are uncertain. Its value lies in being an unregulated extension that runs on the same infrastructure, adding revenue with little extra cost.
What are the risks to VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)?
VeriSign's pricing power exists only because regulators permit it. The Cooperative Agreement with NTIA and the ICANN registry agreement could be renegotiated, and .com pricing has periodically drawn political attention. A new front opened on September 4, 2026, when Hagens Berman filed a consumer antitrust class action (Kessler v. VeriSign and ICANN, Central District of California) alleging that VeriSign holds an illegal .com monopoly and has raised fees about 30% since 2021. The case is at an early stage, but any court-imposed pricing limits would hit the main growth lever directly. Demand is also cyclical: the domain base shrank as recently as 2024, and the 2026 surge in new registrations may renew at lower rates than mature names. Over the longer run, apps, social profiles and AI assistants could reduce how many businesses need a website at all. The company is concentrated in essentially one product, carries ~$2.3 billion of senior notes and negative shareholders' equity from years of buybacks, and trades at ~33x trailing earnings, so a soft quarter or a renewal-rate miss can weigh on the shares.
What is the VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) forecast?
5 analysts publish price targets on VRSN, averaging $324.40 against a $302.33 price as of October 2026, or +7.3%. The published targets run from $285.00 to $355.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 3 buy, 2 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 8 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.
Read the full VRSN forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.
Is VRSN a buy or a sell?
We give no verdict on VeriSign, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.
The case for buying. Contractual .com price increases. The wholesale .com fee rises from $10.26 to $10.97 on November 1, 2026, a ~6.9% increase permitted under the Cooperative Agreement with the Department of Commerce. The most optimistic published target, $355.00, assumes this works close to its best case.
The case against. VeriSign's pricing power exists only because regulators permit it. The most pessimistic target, $285.00, is roughly what VRSN is worth if this bites instead.
Read the full bull and bear case on VRSN, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
How is VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) valued? (approximate, October 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see VeriSign, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$1.7 billion
- FY2026 revenue guidance: ~$1.745 to $1.755 billion
- Q2 2026 revenue: ~$434.6 million (up 6.0%)
- Q2 2026 diluted EPS: $2.38 (up from $2.21)
- Market cap / Trailing P/E: ~$27 billion / ~33x (forward ~27x)
- Quarterly dividend: $0.81 per share (~1.1% yield)
VeriSign converts revenue into operating income at roughly 68% margins (Q2 2026 operating income of ~$296.3 million on ~$434.6 million of revenue), among the highest in the S&P 500. First-half 2026 diluted EPS was $4.71, up from $4.31, and first-half free cash flow was ~$478 million. The premium multiple reflects that predictability plus the November 2026 price increase. At June 30, 2026 the company held ~$1.03 billion of cash and marketable securities against ~$2.3 billion of senior notes. Third-quarter 2026 results are expected in late October. Figures are approximate and drawn from company releases and market data as of mid-October 2026.
Who competes with VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)?
Other gTLD registry operators
Identity Digital (which runs hundreds of newer extensions such as .live and .app-style names), GoDaddy Registry (.co and many brand and city extensions) and Public Interest Registry (.org) all compete for new registrations. They give buyers alternatives when a .com is taken, but none has displaced .com as the default commercial address.
Country-code and niche registries
National operators such as DENIC (.de), Nominet (.uk) and CIRA (.ca) capture local demand, while extensions like .ai and .io have become fashionable with startups and developers. .ai in particular has grown quickly alongside the AI boom, making it the most visible alternative for new technology companies choosing a name.
Non-domain online presence
Social media profiles, app stores, marketplaces such as Amazon and Etsy, link-in-bio pages and AI assistants let businesses reach customers without a dedicated website. None competes for registry fees directly, but together they are the long-term substitute risk for how many new domains get registered.
What stocks are similar to VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)?
Other names that sit close to VRSN: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.
How to invest in VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)
There are three common ways to get VRSN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so VRSN sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where VRSN fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)
VRSN is one of the most profitable and predictable businesses in the market, but at ~33x earnings that is already priced in, so returns depend on domain growth holding and regulated .com pricing surviving new antitrust scrutiny.
More on VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)
Whether VRSN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is VRSN a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the VRSN stock forecast.
For income investors, whether VRSN pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does VRSN pay a dividend? And to weigh VRSN against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: VRSN vs GDDY and VRSN vs AMZN.
Wondering how VRSN fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in VeriSign, Inc. with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how VRSN fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What does VeriSign do?
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VeriSign operates the registries for .com and .net, which means it maintains the authoritative database that tells the internet where every .com and .net name points. It does not sell domains to consumers. Registrars such as GoDaddy, Namecheap and Tucows sell them and pay VeriSign a wholesale fee for each registration and renewal. VeriSign also runs two of the internet's 13 root servers, provides the resolution infrastructure that handles enormous query volumes every day, and is the registry operator for the new .web extension. Unlike its early-2000s self, when it also sold security certificates and other services, today's VeriSign is essentially a single-product company. That focus is why its financials are so simple: about 179 million names, a regulated price per name, and a cost base that barely moves as revenue grows.
How does VeriSign make money?
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Almost all revenue comes from annual .com and .net registration and renewal fees paid by registrars. With ~179.1 million names under management at the end of June 2026 and a wholesale .com fee of $10.26 (rising to $10.97 on November 1, 2026), the company generated ~$434.6 million of revenue and ~$296.3 million of operating income in the second quarter of 2026, a margin of about 68%. Renewals are the backbone, since roughly three quarters of expiring names are renewed each year, while new registrations add growth. Because running the registry costs about the same whether it holds 170 million or 180 million names, both price increases and volume growth flow mostly to profit. Management then returns more than all of its free cash flow through buybacks and dividends.
Is VeriSign a monopoly?
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VeriSign is the sole operator of the .com and .net registries under contracts with ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is why its prices are regulated rather than set freely. Buyers can choose other extensions such as .org, .co, .ai or a country code, but .com remains the dominant commercial domain worldwide and carries a trust advantage that is hard to replicate. That position is now being tested in court. On September 4, 2026, law firm Hagens Berman filed a consumer antitrust class action (Kessler v. VeriSign and ICANN) in the Central District of California, alleging an illegal .com monopoly and excessive fees. VeriSign has historically argued that its pricing is set by government-approved agreements. The case is at an early stage, and its outcome is one of the main uncertainties for the stock.
When does the .com price go up?
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VeriSign announced that the wholesale .com price rises from $10.26 to $10.97 per year on November 1, 2026, an increase of about 6.9%. The price was frozen at $7.85 for years before the 2018 amendment to the Cooperative Agreement allowed increases of up to 7% in four of every six years, and it has since moved through $8.39, $8.97, $9.59 and $10.26. Registrars set their own retail prices on top of the wholesale fee, so what a consumer pays varies, but most pass increases through. Registrants can often lock in today's price by renewing for multiple years before the change takes effect, which can pull some revenue forward into the months before an increase. Because costs are fixed, each increase lifts operating income almost dollar for dollar.
Does VeriSign pay a dividend?
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Yes. VeriSign began paying a quarterly dividend in late 2024 at $0.77 per share and raised it to $0.81 in 2026, an annual rate of $3.24. At a mid-October 2026 price near $302 that is a yield of roughly 1.1%, with a payout ratio of about 34% of earnings. The most recent payment went to holders of record on August 19, 2026 and was paid on August 27. The dividend is a small part of the capital return story: in the first half of 2026 VeriSign spent ~$148 million on dividends versus ~$427 million on buybacks, and it has about $1.5 billion of remaining repurchase authorization. The steady share count reduction is a large part of why earnings per share grow faster than net income.
When does VeriSign report earnings, and how was the last quarter?
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VeriSign typically reports in the last week of the month after each quarter ends, so third-quarter 2026 results are expected in late October 2026. The most recent report, on July 23, 2026, covered the second quarter. Revenue rose 6.0% to ~$434.6 million, diluted EPS rose 7.7% to $2.38, and operating cash flow rose about 15% to ~$232 million. The domain base grew 5.1% year over year to 179.1 million names on a record 12.7 million new registrations. Management raised full-year revenue guidance to ~$1.745 to $1.755 billion and domain base growth guidance to 5.2% to 6%. Items to watch next include the final Q2 renewal rate (preliminary ~75.2%), any early effect of the November price increase, the .web launch timeline and any comment on the antitrust suit.
Is VRSN stock a good investment?
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It depends on how much weight an investor places on quality versus price. The bull case is a near-monopoly with ~68% operating margins, contractual price increases, a domain base that is growing again, low volatility (beta around 0.7) and a share count that shrinks every year. Supporters also note that analysts' average price target sat around $324 in October 2026, above the ~$302 share price. The bear case is valuation and concentration: at ~33x trailing and ~27x forward earnings the stock prices in steady growth from one regulated product, the new antitrust class action targets that product's pricing, and some of this year's new registrations could fail to renew. The shares traded between ~$209 and ~$312 over the past 52 weeks, so sentiment can swing even in a predictable business.
Who owns a large stake in VeriSign?
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Berkshire Hathaway has been one of VeriSign's largest shareholders for more than a decade, first buying in 2012, and it sold part of its stake in a 2025 secondary offering while remaining a major holder. Index and asset managers such as Vanguard and BlackRock also own large positions, as they do in most S&P 500 companies. Berkshire's long ownership is often cited as a signal of the business's durability, since VeriSign fits the profile of a toll-like franchise with pricing power and little need for reinvestment. Insiders hold a small percentage, and directors have bought shares in the open market at times, including purchases disclosed in an August 2026 Form 4 at prices near $293 to $294. Ownership data shifts each quarter with 13F filings.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with VeriSign, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.