⚠ The Ladder Has LandingsLow threat

VeriSign (VRSN) — threat to the moat

The escalator is a staircase with landings: two years in six carry no increase, and registrars pre-sell around the ones that do.

The price ladder has landings, and revenue growth notices them.

The landings between the steps2 of 6years in each cyclewith no increase3 years$9.59 held,2021 to 202410 yearsmaximum registrationterm registrarscan pre-sell4steps availablethis cycleRegistrars know each date in advance and can pre-sell at the old price.
A contractual escalator that produces lumpier revenue than a contractual escalator should.

VeriSign may raise the .com fee by up to 7% in the final four years of each six-year period — which means two years in every six carry no increase at all.1 The last freeze was real and long: the wholesale price stood at $9.59 from September 2021 until September 2024, three years in which every dollar of revenue growth had to come from units. Units, over that stretch, fell.2

There is a second drag that only appears in the years an increase lands. Registrars know the date in advance and can pre-sell multi-year registrations at the old price, which pulls revenue forward into the quarter before the step and blunts the increase in the year it takes effect. Domains can be registered for up to ten years at a time.

Neither effect changes the long-run arithmetic. Both make the short-run reporting noisier than a contractual escalator ought to be, and both are reasons VeriSign's revenue growth has occasionally printed at 4% in years when the headline price rose 7%.

The freeze years in the current cycle have already passed. The next two are 2030 and 2031 — after the agreement must be renewed.

References
  1. ReportedThe 7% increase is available only in the final four years of each six-year period, and domain names may be registered for between one and ten years at a time.
    VeriSign, Inc., Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025 (SEC, CIK 1014473) — Item 1, Business. VeriSign operates the .com and .net registries under registry agreements with ICANN, and .com additionally under a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce (most recently amended by Amendment 35 on 26 October 2018, automatically renewed on the same terms on 30 November 2024 for a successive six-year term, renewing again on 30 November 2030 unless the DOC gives notice). The .com Registry Agreement runs a six-year term that must be renewed or extended by 30 November 2030 and contains a presumptive right of renewal, with ICANN able to terminate or refuse in certain prescribed circumstances; it permits an increase to the Maximum Price of up to 7% over the previous year in each of the final four years of each six-year period, the current period having begun on 26 October 2024. The .net Registry Agreement was renewed on 29 June 2023, runs to 1 July 2029 and permits increases of up to 10% each year. VeriSign remits $0.2575 to ICANN quarterly for each annual .com registration and $0.25 for each .name registration. It also operates .cc under an agreement with the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, operates .name and internationalised gTLDs, provides back-end services for .edu, performs the Root Zone Maintainer function for ICANN and operates two of the thirteen global internet root servers. Retail pricing is established by registrars; VeriSign must provide ICANN-accredited registrars with non-discriminatory access, faces marketing and bundling limits, must submit new Registry Services for ICANN review, and is subject to vertical-integration restrictions that apply solely to .com — obligations it states do not apply to ccTLDs and other gTLDs and may create a competitive disadvantage. Named registry competitors include CentralNic, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), DENIC eG, GoDaddy, Google, Identity Digital, Nominet, Public Interest Registry, Radix and .xyz. Employee headcount 928 (256 cost of revenues, 240 research and development, 432 selling, general and administrative). — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02-05 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe .com wholesale fee stood at $9.59 from September 2021 until it rose to $10.26 on 1 September 2024, a period over which the domain name base fell.
    VeriSign, Inc., Form 10-K FY2025 — Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis. Revenues $1,656.6M (+6%) against $1,557.4M in 2024 (+4%) and $1,493.1M in 2023; operating income $1,121.0M (+6%). Costs as a percentage of revenues: cost of revenues 11.8% (12.3%, 13.2%), research and development 6.3% (6.2%, 6.1%), selling, general and administrative 14.2% (13.6%, 13.7%), total costs and expenses 32.3% (32.1%, 33.0%), operating income 67.7% (67.9%, 67.0%), interest expense (4.6)%, net income 49.8% (50.4%, 54.8%). The .com and .net domain name base was 173.5 million at 31 December 2025 (+3%) against 169.0 million in 2024 (−2%) and 172.7 million in 2023. VeriSign processed 41.7 million new .com and .net registrations in 2025 against 37.4 million in 2024; the final third-quarter 2025 renewal rate was 75.4% against 72.2%. The registry-level wholesale fee rose from $9.59 to $10.26 for .com effective 1 September 2024 and from $9.92 to $10.91 for .net effective 1 February 2024. Geographic revenues: U.S. $1,093.1M (+6%), EMEA $279.4M (+12%), APAC $184.6M (+5%), other $99.5M (+3%). VeriSign repurchased 3.4 million shares for $858.6M in 2025, with $1.08 billion remaining under a programme authorised to $1.50 billion effective 24 July 2025. — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02-05 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026