Verisign reported earnings for third quarter 2018, revenue was $306 million for the third quarter of 2018, up 4.6 percent from the same quarter in 2017.
Verisign reported net income of $138 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $1.13 for the third quarter of 2018, compared to net income of $115 million and diluted EPS of $0.93 for the same quarter in 2017.
The operating margin was 63.8 percent for the third quarter of 2018 compared to 61.9 percent for the same quarter in 2017. Financial Highlights • Verisign ended the third quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.18 billion, a decrease of $1.24 billion from year-end 2017. • Cash flow from operating activities was $187 million for the third quarter of 2018, compared with $175 million for the same quarter in 2017. • Deferred revenues on Sept. 30, 2018, totaled $1.02 billion, an increase of $25 million from year-end 2017. •During the third quarter, Verisign repurchased 1.1 million shares of its common stock for $175 million. At Sept.30,2018, $638 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program which has no expiration. Business Highlights • Verisign ended the third quarter with 151.7 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 4.0 percent increase from the end of the third quarter of 2017, and a net increase of 1.99 million during the third quarter of 2018. •In the third quarter, Verisign processed 9.5 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, compared to 8.9 million for the same quarter in 2017. The final .com and .net renewal rate for the second quarter of 2018 was 75.0 percent compared with 74.0 percent for the same quarter in 2017. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.