Verisign, which manages .COM and .NET gTLD, released its Q1 financial results yesterday. It is, naturally, dedicated to economic indicators and from this point of view it looks quite good. The company's revenue rose 5.5% compared to the same period last year.
However, from the point of view of Verisign's domain business, things are not so smooth. The number of registrations in .COM and .NET domain zones has decreased once again. The company ended the first quarter with 172.5 million names in two domain zones. This is 270,000 less than in the Q1 of 2023, with the main decrease - about 200,000 - accounting for the .COM. The company continues to point to the decline in the Chinese market as the main reason for the negative trend. However, this time she also mentioned that additional difficulties are created by the high prices of American registrar companies, the Domain Name Wire reports.
It's hard to disagree with the latter, but Verisign would do well to take the next logical step. Prices from registrars directly depend on the prices set by the registry itself. And this year she will increase them in the .COM domain for the fourth time in a row. In this regard, it will be extremely interesting to see Verisign's financial performance over the next two years, when further price increases are prohibited by the registry's contract with ICANN.
In the meantime, the company has lowered its forecasts for the current year. Previously, Verisign analysts expected that the number of domain names in the .COM and .NET zones at the end of the year would range from -1% to +1% compared to 2023. The new forecast includes values from -1.75% to +0.25%. The financial forecast was also reduced: previously the company expected to receive income this year in the amount of 1.56 - 1.58 billion dollars, now - 1.55 - 1.57 billion.
