✦ Ninety Million Shares and FallingWide moat

VeriSign (VRSN) — the future bets

The most certain thing here is that there will be fewer shares — which is how 6% revenue growth becomes 10% per share.

VeriSign's most reliable growth engine does not appear on the revenue line.

Shares outstanding (millions)93.9Apr 202592.7Oct 202591.7Jan 202691.0Apr 202690.3Jul 2026Berkshire held 8,989,880 shares throughout — a stake rising from ~9.6% to ~10.0% without a trade.
How 6% revenue growth becomes closer to 10% per share.

The company returns more than 100% of free cash flow to shareholders, and has done so consistently — the chief executive said exactly that describing the second quarter of 2026.1 The mechanics are a $1.50 billion buyback authorisation the board keeps refilling, most recently with an additional $884 million in July 2026, and a quarterly dividend of $0.81 that began only in the second quarter of 2025.

The effect compounds quietly. Diluted shares were about 133 million in 2015 and 90.3 million in July 2026.2 Between 2015 and 2025 net income rose about 120% while earnings per share rose 227%; the gap was bought.3 At roughly 31 times earnings the pace is about 3% of the company a year, which is slower than it was at 25 times and considerably slower than it would be at 20.

Berkshire Hathaway supplies the clearest illustration. It has held 8,989,880 shares unchanged through each of the last three quarters, while the share count fell from 93.9 million to 90.3 million — taking its stake from roughly 9.6% to roughly 10.0% without buying anything.4

This is rated wide because it is the most certain item here, and because it is the mechanism by which a business growing revenue at 6% delivers per-share growth closer to 10%. The limits are the multiple and the debt: $2.3 billion of notes, refinanced in June 2026 at a higher coupon than the paper they replaced.

Moat trajectory: Widening

The share count fell from 93.9 million to 90.3 million in fifteen months, the board refilled the authorisation to $1.50 billion in July 2026, and the dividend was raised in its third quarter. Per-share compounding is accelerating even as revenue growth stays at 6%.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Share repurchases, latest quarter
$197M in Q2 2026 (0.7 million shares); $1.50bn authorised

The share count falls as long as this continues; repurchases below free cash flow would mean the company expects a use for the cash.

Source: VeriSign, Inc. second-quarter 2026 results (Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1) ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe chief executive stated that more than 100% of free cash flow was returned in the second quarter of 2026, with $197 million of repurchases, an $884 million addition restoring the authorisation to $1.50 billion, a $0.81 quarterly dividend first paid in the second quarter of 2025, and a $550 million 5.10% note issue redeeming $550 million of 4.75% notes.
    VeriSign, Inc., Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results — Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1, 23 July 2026. Revenue $435 million, up 6.0% year over year; operating income $296 million against $281 million; net income $217 million and diluted EPS $2.38 against $207 million and $2.21. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities $1.03 billion, up $454 million from year-end 2025; deferred revenues $1.45 billion at 30 June 2026, up $64 million from year-end. Cash flow from operations $232 million. On 26 June 2026 VeriSign issued $550 million of 5.10% Senior Notes due 2031 and on 20 July 2026 used the proceeds with cash on hand to redeem $550 million of 4.75% Senior Notes due 2027. 0.7 million shares repurchased for $197 million; an additional $884 million authorised effective 23 July 2026 bringing the total authorisation to $1.50 billion; a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share declared on 20 July 2026. The domain name base ended at 179.1 million .com and .net registrations, a 5.1% increase year over year and a net increase of 3.05 million in the quarter; a record 12.7 million new registrations were processed against 10.4 million; the final first-quarter 2026 renewal rate was 76.3% against 75.5%. CEO Jim Bidzos: the record of 100% availability for the .com and .net domain name resolution system was extended to 29 years, and more than 100% of free cash flow was returned to the investing public through dividends and share repurchases. The .web top-level domain has been delegated into the DNS root zone with VeriSign as the designated registry operator. — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-07-23 · source ↗
  2. Reported90,300,000 shares were outstanding at 17 July 2026.
    VeriSign, Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (SEC, CIK 1014473). Revenues $434.6M for the quarter and $863.5M for the six months, each up 6%; operating income $296.3M and $589.9M, up 6% and 7%. Net income $216.5M and $431.0M; diluted EPS $2.38 and $4.71 on 91.1 and 91.4 million diluted shares. Total assets $1,802.8M; deferred revenues $1,084.8M current and $364.1M long-term; current senior notes $549.3M and long-term senior notes $1,785.1M. Net cash provided by operating activities $504.0M for the six months against $493.8M; deferred revenues increased $64.5M. 90,300,000 shares of common stock were outstanding at 17 July 2026. The domain name base was 179.1 million at 30 June 2026, up 5.1%; 12.7 million new registrations were processed in the quarter; the final first-quarter 2026 renewal rate was 76.3%. $666.0 million remained for repurchases at 30 June 2026 before an additional $884.2 million was authorised effective 23 July 2026. — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-07-23 · source ↗
  3. ReportedNet income rose about 120% between 2015 and 2025 while diluted earnings per share rose 227%.
    SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts for VeriSign, Inc. (CIK 1014473) — annual revenue, operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share as filed. Revenue $1,059.4M (2015) rising to $1,656.6M (2025); operating income $605.9M to $1,121.0M; net income $375.2M (2015), $440.6M (2016), $457.2M (2017), $582.5M (2018), $612.3M (2019), $814.9M (2020), $784.8M (2021), $673.8M (2022), $817.6M (2023), $785.7M (2024), $825.7M (2025); diluted EPS $2.82 (2015) to $8.81 (2025). — FY2015–FY2025 · publ. 2026-02-05 · source ↗
  4. ReportedBerkshire Hathaway held 8,989,880 VeriSign shares unchanged through the quarters ended December 2025, March 2026 and June 2026, while shares outstanding fell from 93.9 million to 90.3 million.
    Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Form 13F-HR information table for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (SEC, CIK 1067983) — VeriSign, Inc. holdings of 972,947 shares valued at $244,754,547 and 8,016,933 shares valued at $2,016,739,665, a combined 8,989,880 shares. The same combined holding of 8,989,880 shares was reported for the quarters ended 31 December 2025 and 31 March 2026. — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-14 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026