Is Verisign profitable in 2026?

Yes. Verisign posted FY2025 revenue of $1.66 billion, up 6.4% year over year, with operating margin around 68% and net income of $826 million. Q1 2026 revenue reached $428.9 million, up 6.6% YoY, beating consensus estimates as of July 16, 2026.

Could AI replace Verisign?

No. Verisign's core business is operating the exclusive, government-sanctioned .com and .net domain registries under contracts with ICANN and the US Department of Commerce through November 2030, a legal and contractual monopoly, not a technology, that AI models cannot replicate or disintermediate.

Verisign is publicly traded (NASDAQ: VRSN) with no controlling parent. As of December 31, 2025, BlackRock held ~10.48%, Berkshire Hathaway ~9.87% (held continuously since Q2 2012), State Street ~4.68%, and AQR ~4.30%.

Is Verisign's .com monopoly at risk?

Not currently. Verisign's registry agreement for .com and .net was renewed through November 2030, and its Root Zone Maintainer agreement was renewed for another 8-year term in October 2024. Two open pro se antitrust lawsuits exist but are considered low-merit as of 2026.

Who is Verisign's biggest competitor?

Cloudflare is the most visible challenger, having displaced Verisign from the .gov registry contract in 2023, and it sells domains at cost with no markup. GoDaddy Registry and Identity Digital compete in adjacent TLD markets, but none can legally operate .com or .net.

Will .com domain prices keep rising?

Yes, on a scheduled basis. Verisign's wholesale .com price rises 7% to $10.97 (plus ICANN fee) effective November 1, 2026, the first increase since September 2024, under a contractual cap allowing up to 7% annual increases in the final four years of each ICANN cycle.

Cybersecurity companies · United States

Verisign

verisign.com ↗

Verisign runs the .com and .net domain registries under an exclusive US government contract.

Hard to displace

Assessed 21 July 2026 · Evidence as of 21 July 2026

Strong structural protection; the business model survives ai pressure.

On the recordSince 21 July 2026 · Checkable from 2029-2030 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Renewal talks begin for the .com registry agreement ahead of its November 2030 expiration

The call

Verisign's business runs on a single government contract for .com and .net, and every dollar it earns depends on that contract staying in place past 2030.

Verisign manages the database that stores all .com and .net domain names. This business is nearly impossible to copy because the U.S. government and ICANN (the global domain authority) have given Verisign exclusive rights to do this job, and no competitor, including Google or Cloudflare, can take over without a government decision. The real risk is not competition but what happens in late 2030 when the government contract renews: if regulators decide to open up the market, change the terms, or refuse to renew, Verisign loses everything.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. AI agents, chatbots, and new sites still need domain names, so AI-driven web growth adds registrations instead of cutting them. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: Cloudflare. Cloudflare already runs the .gov registry it won in 2023, but .com and .net stay locked to Verisign under contract through 2030. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.

What protects it. The exclusive ICANN and US Commerce Department contract for .com and .net, locked through November 2030, blocks any rival from bidding for that traffic.

What would change this call

ICANN/NTIA opens a public process on .com contract terms before Nov 2030 expiration. Would signal the exclusivity moat itself is being contested.
Berkshire Hathaway further reduces or exits its Verisign stake in 2026 filings. Would show major investor sentiment souring despite strong financials.
Verisign decides whether to enter ICANN's 2026 new gTLD application round. Would show whether it is defending or expanding its registry dominance.

Key numbers

FY2025 revenue $1.66 billion, up 6.4% year over year (2026-07-21)
Gross margin around 88-89% (2026-07-20)
.com/.net base at 173.5 million names, up 2.6% in 2025 (2026-07-21)

Named risks

November 2030 ICANN/NTIA contract renewal is the single point of structural dependency for the .com/.net monopoly. Severity: high
Open pro se antitrust lawsuits (Zheng, Huifen Mo) could generate headline noise despite low merit. Severity: low
Berkshire Hathaway's 2025 stake trim cited as driven by regulatory considerations, a sentiment signal. Severity: medium
Contractual price-cap renegotiation risk on .com (7% cap) and .net (10% cap through mid-2029). Severity: medium
Long-term erosion from decentralized naming alternatives (ENS, Unstoppable Domains) and further ccTLD/government contract losses. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Cloudflare	gaining on	Displaced Verisign from the .gov registry contract in 2023; sells domains at cost
GoDaddy Registry	gaining on	Won Tuvalu ccTLD registry contract from Verisign in 2021
Identity Digital	contesting	Manages 200+ new gTLDs with over 28 million domains as of 2026
CentralNic/Team Internet	contesting	Expanding secondary domain sales and Southeast Asia wholesale as of 2026
Unstoppable Domains/ENS	contesting	Decentralized naming challengers lacking mainstream browser support as of 2026

Questions people ask

Is Verisign profitable in 2026?: Yes. Verisign posted FY2025 revenue of $1.66 billion, up 6.4% year over year, with operating margin around 68% and net income of $826 million. Q1 2026 revenue reached $428.9 million, up 6.6% YoY, beating consensus estimates as of July 16, 2026.
Could AI replace Verisign?: No. Verisign's core business is operating the exclusive, government-sanctioned .com and .net domain registries under contracts with ICANN and the US Department of Commerce through November 2030, a legal and contractual monopoly, not a technology, that AI models cannot replicate or disintermediate.
Who owns Verisign?: Verisign is publicly traded (NASDAQ: VRSN) with no controlling parent. As of December 31, 2025, BlackRock held ~10.48%, Berkshire Hathaway ~9.87% (held continuously since Q2 2012), State Street ~4.68%, and AQR ~4.30%.
Is Verisign's .com monopoly at risk?: Not currently. Verisign's registry agreement for .com and .net was renewed through November 2030, and its Root Zone Maintainer agreement was renewed for another 8-year term in October 2024. Two open pro se antitrust lawsuits exist but are considered low-merit as of 2026.
Who is Verisign's biggest competitor?: Cloudflare is the most visible challenger, having displaced Verisign from the .gov registry contract in 2023, and it sells domains at cost with no markup. GoDaddy Registry and Identity Digital compete in adjacent TLD markets, but none can legally operate .com or .net.
Will .com domain prices keep rising?: Yes, on a scheduled basis. Verisign's wholesale .com price rises 7% to $10.97 (plus ICANN fee) effective November 1, 2026, the first increase since September 2024, under a contractual cap allowing up to 7% annual increases in the final four years of each ICANN cycle.

Timeline

2026-11-01Scheduled 7% .com wholesale price increase to $10.97 plus ICANN fee takes effect
2026-04-26Verisign evaluating participation in ICANN's 2026 new gTLD application round
2026-02-06Q4 2025 earnings call; dividend raised to $0.81/share, +5.2% YoY
2025-12-23Zheng v. ICANN/Verisign antitrust suit dismissed with partial fee award
2025-01Verisign completes multi-year DNSSEC root Key Signing Key rollover
2024-10Root Zone Maintainer agreement with ICANN renewed for 8-year term
2023Verisign loses .gov registry contract to Cloudflare
2021Verisign loses Tuvalu ccTLD registry contract to GoDaddy Registry

Revision history

21 July 2026

First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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