VeriSign (VRSN) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates

VeriSign Inc. VRSNreported non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.07 for the first quarter of 2018, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and increased 11.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Revenues increased 3.7% year over year to $299.3 million and came slightly ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $298 million.

The year-over-year improvement was primarily driven by increase in domain name registrations in the global market mainly U.S., China and Europe.

Management noted that growing penetration of Internet and sustained growth of e-commerce  were the key growth drivers.

Quarter Details

In the quarter, domain name registrations for .com and .net together grew 3.2% year over year to 148.3 million. Domain name base increased 1.91 million in the quarter.

VeriSign processed 9.6 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, an increase from 9.5 million processed in the year-ago quarter.

Per management, during the quarter, 59% of the revenues came from U.S. customers while international customers contributed the rest.

For the reported quarter, the exact renewal rate figures will be available after 45 days from Dec 31, 2017. The company estimates it to be 72.2%. However, management noted that second time renewal rate in China was disappointing.