Ticker: VRSN 📡 
Price: $275.76, ▲ +0.20 (+0.07%)
As of: June 3, 2025, 4:00 PM ET
🧠 Subtitle: If Buffett’s betting on domains, maybe you shouldn’t just scroll past.

🔔 Trigger Alert: Insider—and Institutional—Faith

When Berkshire buys, the world listens. And when they buy four times in 10 days? You better check your Wi-Fi.

📜 Recent Berkshire Buys (well, back in December 2024):

• 💰 $193.77 → $199.05 → $203.62 → $204.71

• 💼 Total Shares: +474,267

• 📈 Total Value: ~$93.6M

• 🧓 Yes, Buffett still knows what DNS stands for.

But it’s not just Buffett. Verisign’s float is practically spoken for. Top holders own 97.15% of the shares.

🏛️ Top Institutional Holders:

Talk about a who’s who of Wall Street believers.

🔍 For full Institutional Ownership breakdown, see here.

📊 Latest Earnings: Nothing Flashy—But Plenty Solid

Q1 2025 Highlights:

• 💵 Revenue: $402M (+4.7% YoY)

• 💼 Operating Income: $271M

• 📈 Net Income: $199M → EPS $2.10

• 🧾 New: Quarterly dividend initiated at $0.77/share

• 💰 Share buybacks: $230M in Q1 alone

The icing? Cash flows from operations hit $291M this quarter.
The cherry? Verisign plans to keep the dividend rolling—sweet.

👉 Want the full picture? Dive into Verisign’s financials here.

🌐 Domain Business Snapshot:

• 🌍 169.8M .com and .net registrations (down 1.5% YoY)

• 🔄 10.1M new domains registered in Q1

• 🧾 Renewal rate ticking up: 74% (vs. 73.2% last year)

Translation: Still a reliable utility of the internet, albeit not a growth rocket.

💹 What We Like:

✅ Moaty business model.
✅ Recurring cash flows.
✅ Smart capital allocation: buybacks + dividend = 📦🤑
✅ Solid profitability with room to navigate macro turbulence.

⚠️ But Risks? Oh Yes:

🧠 1. AI Disruption Could Undermine Domain Branding
If users rely on AI to fetch info (hi ChatGPT 👋), the “need” for strong .com domains might fade. Will your grandkids even know what a domain name is?

📉 2. Growth Is... Meh
Top-line growth remains single-digit. Don’t expect fireworks, unless you get excited by 4.7%.

💵 3. Shares Aren’t Cheap

• P/E: 33.69

• Forward P/E: 31.25
  Given the rally since Berkshire’s buy-in, margin of safety is thin at current prices.

👴 4. Buffett & Simons Are Legendary—but Mortal
They bought lower. Do they love it at $275+? 🤔 Unknown. (Probably not, or at least not as much.)

🐻 5. Bear Market Risk
Verisign was once a value stock. Now it's a slow-growing tech-ish name with a big price tag. If sentiment sours, it's not immune.

Interested in another investment idea?
Check our take on UnitedHealth Group.

🥁 Verdict: Steady, But Wait for a Pullback

If you want:
✔️ Stability
✔️ Institutional alignment
✔️ A bit of dividend flavor
...then Verisign might be your jam.

But after a monster rally (+30%+ since Berkshire’s buys), maybe let this one cool its DNS before you hit "register."

🤓 Disclaimer:

Funanc1al doesn't own a crystal ball, but we do own a domain name—and some hopefully excellent SEO. Still, invest at your own risk. And check if Buffett's still buying before you follow him.

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