Verisign 10-Q 2025-03-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2025

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number: 000-23593

VERISIGN, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (703) 948-3200

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION

VERISIGN, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In millions, except par value)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

VERISIGN, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(In millions, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

VERISIGN, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT

(In millions)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

VERISIGN, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In millions)

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

VERISIGN, INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared by VeriSign, Inc. (“Verisign” or the “Company”) in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, therefore, do not include all information and notes normally provided in audited financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals and other adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of, nor comparable to, the results of operations for any other interim period or for a full fiscal year. These unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes contained in Verisign’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 (the “2024 Form 10-K”) filed with the SEC on February 13, 2025.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which improves the transparency of income tax disclosures by requiring consistent categories and greater disaggregation of information in the effective tax rate reconciliation and income taxes paid disaggregated by jurisdiction. This guidance will be effective for our 2025 Form 10-K. We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, which requires additional disclosure of certain costs and expenses within the notes to the financial statements. This guidance will be effective for our 2027 Form 10-K. We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Note 2. Financial Instruments

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities

The following table summarizes the Company’s cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities and the fair value categorization of the financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis:

The gross and net unrealized gains and losses included in the fair value of the debt securities were not significant for the periods presented. All of the debt securities held as of March 31, 2025 are scheduled to mature in less than one year.

Fair Value Measurements

The fair value of the Company’s investments in money market funds approximates their face value. Such instruments are included in Cash and cash equivalents. The fair value of the debt securities consisting of U.S. Treasury bills is based on their quoted market prices. Debt securities purchased with original maturities in excess of three months are included in Marketable securities. The fair value of the Company’s foreign currency forward contracts is based on foreign currency rates quoted by banks or foreign currency dealers and other public data sources. The fair value of all of these financial instruments are classified as Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy.

As of March 31, 2025, the Company’s other financial instruments include cash, accounts receivable, restricted cash, and accounts payable whose carrying values approximated their face values. The aggregate fair value of the Company’s senior notes is $1.71 billion and $1.69 billion as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The fair values of these debt instruments are based on available market information from public data sources and are classified as Level 2.

Note 3. Selected Balance Sheet Items

Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities consist of the following:

Taxes payable reflects amounts accrued for the income tax provision and payments made during the period. This balance fluctuates from period to period due to the timing of income tax payments in the Company’s major tax jurisdictions. Customer deposits varies from period to period due to the timing of payments from certain large customers. Accrued employee compensation primarily consists of liabilities for employee leave, salaries, payroll taxes, employee contributions to the employee stock purchase plan, and incentive compensation. Accrued employee incentive compensation as of December 31, 2024 was paid during the three months ended March 31, 2025. Interest payable varies at each period-end based on the payment due dates for each senior note issuance. Interest payable as of March 31, 2025 reflects the early payment of accrued interest on the Company’s $500.0 million of 5.25% senior unsecured notes (“2025 Notes”) in March 2025, prior to their maturity on April 1, 2025.

Note 4. Debt

On March 11, 2025, the Company issued $500.0 million of 5.25% senior unsecured notes due June 1, 2032 (“2032 Notes”). The 2032 Notes were issued at 99.581% of par value. The Company will pay interest on the notes semi-annually on June 1 and December 1, commencing on June 1, 2025. The total discount and issuance costs of $6.7 million are presented on the balance sheet as a reduction of the debt obligation and are being amortized to Interest expense over the 7-year term of the notes.

On March 31, 2025, the Company used the net proceeds from the 2032 Notes and cash on hand to fund the repayment of all of its $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding 2025 Notes.

Note 5. Stockholders’ Deficit

Effective July 25, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of its common stock in the amount of approximately $1.11 billion, in addition to the $388.0 million that remained available for repurchases under the share repurchase program, for a total authorization of up to $1.50 billion under the program. The program has no expiration date. Purchases made under the program could be effected through open market transactions, block purchases, accelerated share repurchase agreements or other negotiated transactions. As of March 31, 2025 there was approximately $792.7 million remaining available for repurchases under the program.

The summary of the Company’s common stock share repurchases are as follows. Amounts may not add up due to rounding:

Since inception, the Company has repurchased 261.3 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate cost of $15.12 billion, which is recorded as a reduction of Additional paid-in capital. The share repurchase and authorization amounts disclosed within this Form 10-Q exclude the excise tax on share repurchases.

On April 23, 2025, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of the Company’s outstanding common stock to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 19, 2025, payable on May 28, 2025. The Company intends to continue to pay a cash dividend on a quarterly basis, subject to market conditions and approval by the Company’s Board of Directors.

Note 6. Calculation of Earnings per Share

The following table presents the computation of weighted-average shares used in the calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share:

The calculation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding excludes performance-based RSUs granted by the Company for which the relevant performance criteria have not been achieved and any awards that are antidilutive. The number of potential shares excluded from the calculation was not significant in any period presented.

Note 7. Segment Information

The Company has one reportable segment that includes all the operations of the business. The chief operating decision maker assesses performance and decides how to allocate resources based on revenues, operating income and net income as reported on the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income.

The following table presents information about segment revenues, significant expenses and profits:

Other segment items that are a part of our segment net income include professional services expenses, telecommunication expenses, legal expenses, occupancy expenses, marketing expenses, and travel expenses.

Note 8. Revenues

The Company generates revenues in the U.S.; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”); Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, and other Asia Pacific countries (“APAC”); and certain other countries, including Canada and Latin American countries.

The following table presents the Company’s revenues disaggregated by geography, based on the billing addresses of our customers:

Revenues in the table above are attributed to the country of domicile and the respective regions in which registrars are located; however, this may differ from the regions where the registrars operate or where registrants are located. Revenues for each region may be impacted by registrars reincorporating, relocating, or from acquisitions or changes in affiliations of resellers. Revenues for each region may also be impacted by registrars domiciled in one region, registering domain names in another region.

Deferred Revenues

As payment for domain name registrations and renewals are due in advance of the Company’s performance, the Company records these amounts as deferred revenues. The increase in the deferred revenues balance for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was primarily driven by amounts billed in the three months ended March 31, 2025 for domain name registrations and renewals to be recognized as revenues in future periods, offset by refunds for domain name renewals deleted during the 45-day grace period, and $358.3 million of revenues recognized that were included in the deferred revenues balance at December 31, 2024. The balance of deferred revenues as of March 31, 2025 represents the Company’s aggregate remaining performance obligations. Amounts included in current deferred revenues are all expected to be recognized in revenues within 12 months, except for a portion of deferred revenues that relates to domain name renewals that are deleted in the 45-day grace

period following the transaction. The long-term deferred revenues amounts will be recognized in revenues over several years, and in some cases, up to ten years.

Note 9. Stock-based Compensation

Stock-based compensation is classified in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income in the same expense line items as cash compensation. The following table presents the classification of stock-based compensation:

The following table presents the nature of the Company’s total stock-based compensation:

Note 10. Non-operating Income, Net

Non-operating income, net, primarily consists of interest income from the Company’s surplus cash balances and marketable securities. Interest income was $7.9 million and $12.0 million during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The decrease in interest income during the three months ended March 31, 2025 primarily reflects the lower amounts invested in debt securities in the current period and slightly lower interest rates on the Company’s investments in debt securities compared to the prior period.

Note 11. Income Taxes

The following table presents Income tax expense and the effective tax rate:

The effective tax rate for each of the periods in the table above differed from the statutory federal rate of 21%, due to state income taxes and U.S. taxes on foreign earnings, net of foreign tax credits, partially offset by a lower foreign effective tax rate.

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with the 2024 Form 10-K and the interim unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included in Part I, Item I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, statements regarding the Company’s dividend program and our expectations about the sufficiency of our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and funds generated from operations, together with our borrowing capacity under the unsecured revolving credit facility. Forward-looking statements include, among others, those statements including the words “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “believes” and similar language. Our actual results may differ significantly from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. You should also carefully review the risks described in other documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K that we file in 2025. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

For purposes of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the terms “Verisign,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to VeriSign, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a global provider of critical internet infrastructure and domain name registry services, enabling internet navigation for many of the world’s most recognized domain names. We help enable the security, stability, and resiliency of the Domain Name System and the internet by providing Root Zone Maintainer Services, operating two of the thirteen global internet root servers, and providing registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net generic top-level domains (“gTLDs”), which support the majority of global e-commerce.

As of March 31, 2025, we had 169.8 million .com and .net registrations in the domain name base. The number of domain names registered is largely driven by continued growth in online advertising, e-commerce, and the number of internet users, which is partially driven by greater availability of internet access, as well as marketing activities carried out by us and our registrars. The number of domain name registrations under our management may be negatively impacted by certain factors, including overall economic conditions, competition from country code top-level domains (“ccTLDs”), other gTLDs, services that offer alternatives for an online presence, such as social media and artificial intelligence, and ongoing changes in the internet practices and behaviors of consumers and businesses. Factors such as the evolving practices and preferences of internet users, and how they navigate the internet, as well as the motivation of domain name registrants and how they will manage their investment in domain names, can negatively impact our business and the demand for new domain name registrations and renewals.

Business Highlights and Trends

• We recorded revenues of $402.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2025, which represents an increase of 5% compared to the same period in 2024.

• We recorded operating income of $271.2 million during the three months ended March 31, 2025, which represents an increase of 5% compared to the same period in 2024.

• As of March 31, 2025, we had 169.8 million .com and .net registrations in the domain name base, which represents a 1.5% decrease from March 31, 2024, and a net increase of 0.8 million domain name registrations from December 31, 2024.

• During the three months ended March 31, 2025, we processed 10.1 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net compared to 9.5 million for the same period in 2024.

• The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 74.0% compared to 73.2% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.

• We generated cash flows from operating activities of $291.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to $257.3 million for the same period in 2024.

• During the three months ended March 31, 2025, we repurchased 1.0 million shares of our common stock for an aggregate cost of $229.9 million. As of March 31, 2025, there was $792.7 million remaining for future share repurchases under the share repurchase program.

• On March 11, 2025, we issued $500.0 million of 5.25% senior notes due June 1, 2032. On March 31, 2025, we used the net proceeds from the 2032 Notes, along with cash on hand, to fund the repayment of all of our $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding 5.25% senior notes due April 1, 2025.

• On April 23, 2025, our Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of our outstanding common stock to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 19, 2025, payable on May 28, 2025. We intend to continue to pay a cash dividend on a quarterly basis, subject to market conditions and approval by our Board of Directors.

Pursuant to our agreements with ICANN, we make available files containing all active domain names registered in the .com and .net registries. Further, we also make available a summary of the active zone count registered in the .com and .net registries and the number of .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base. The zone counts and information on how to obtain access to the zone files can be found at https://www.Verisign.com/zone. The domain name base is the active zone plus the number of domain names that are registered but not configured for use in the respective top-level domain zone file plus the number of domain names that are in a client or server hold status. The domain name base may also reflect compensated or uncompensated judicial or administrative actions to add or remove from the active zone an immaterial number of domain names. These files and the related summary data are updated daily. The update times may vary each day. The number of domain names provided in this Form 10-Q are as of midnight of the date reported.

Results of Operations

The following table presents information regarding our results of operations as a percentage of revenues:

Revenues

Our revenues are primarily derived from registrations for domain names in the .com and .net domain name registries. We also derive revenues from operating domain name registries and technical systems for several other gTLDs and one ccTLD, all of which are not significant in relation to our consolidated revenues. For domain names registered in the .com and .net registries, we receive a fee from registrars per annual registration that is determined pursuant to our agreements with ICANN. Individual customers, called registrants, contract directly with registrars or their resellers, and the registrars, who are our direct customers, in turn register the domain names with Verisign. Changes in revenues are driven largely by changes in the number of new domain name registrations and the renewal rate for existing registrations as well as the impact of new and prior price increases, to the extent permitted by ICANN and the Department of Commerce. New registrations and the renewal rate for existing registrations are impacted by continued growth in online advertising, e-commerce, and the number of internet users, as well as marketing activities carried out by us and our registrars. We also offer promotional incentive-based discount programs to registrars based upon market conditions and the business environment in which the registrars operate.

In November 2024, we renewed the .com Registry Agreement with ICANN, pursuant to which we will remain the sole registry operator for the .com registry through November 30, 2030. Under the .com Registry Agreement, we are permitted to increase the price of a .com domain name registration by up to 7% in each of the final four years of each six-year period. The current such six-year period began on October 26, 2024. We increased the annual registry-level wholesale fee for each new and

renewal .com domain name registration from $9.59 to $10.26 effective September 1, 2024. Under the .net Registry Agreement, we are permitted to increase the price of .net domain name registrations by up to 10% each year during the term of our agreement with ICANN, through June 30, 2029. We increased the annual registry-level wholesale fee for each new and renewal .net domain name registration from $9.92 to $10.91 effective February 1, 2024. All fees paid to us for .com and .net registrations are in U.S. dollars.

A comparison of revenues is presented below:

The following table compares the .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base:

Revenues increased during the three months ended March 31, 2025, as compared to the same period last year, primarily due to the .com and .net price increases, partially offset by a decline in the .com and .net domain name base.

Demand for .com and .net domain names has been primarily driven by continued internet growth and marketing activities carried out by us and our registrars. However, competitive pressure from ccTLDs, other gTLDs, services that offer alternatives for an online presence, such as social media and artificial intelligence, ongoing changes in internet practices and behaviors of consumers and businesses, as well as the motivation of existing domain name registrants managing their investment in domain names, such as for resale at increased prices or for revenue generation through website advertising, and global economic conditions, has limited the demand for .com and .net domain names and may continue to do so in the future. While the core value proposition of a domain name has remained strong, challenging economic and regulatory conditions weakened demand for .com and .net domain name registrations in China, and some registrars, particularly in the U.S., shifted their focus to increasing profitability through higher retail pricing and decreasing marketing activities targeting new customer acquisition during 2024. The combination of these factors negatively impacted our renewal rates and the volume of new domain name registrations, resulting in a decline in our domain name base during 2024. These business conditions began to improve at the end of 2024 and have continued into the first quarter of 2025 resulting in an increase in both new registrations and renewal rates. While still early, we are seeing more focus from registrars on customer acquisition and some early engagement from registrars with our marketing programs.

Geographic revenues

We generate revenues in the U.S.; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”); Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, and other Asia Pacific countries (“APAC”); and certain other countries, including Canada and Latin American countries.

The following table presents a comparison of our geographic revenues:

Revenues in the table above are attributed to the country of domicile and the respective regions in which our registrars are located; however, this may differ from the regions where the registrars operate or where registrants are located. Revenue growth for each region may be impacted by registrars reincorporating, relocating, or from acquisitions or changes in affiliations of resellers. Revenue growth for each region may also be impacted by registrars domiciled in one region, registering domain names in another region. The majority of our revenue growth was generated from registrars based in the U.S. and EMEA, while revenue in APAC decreased slightly during the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The decline in revenues from registrars based in APAC was due to lower demand in China where revenues decreased by 7% compared to the prior period.

Cost of revenues

Cost of revenues consists primarily of salaries and employee benefits expenses for our personnel who manage the operational systems, depreciation expenses, operational costs associated with the delivery of our services, fees paid to ICANN, customer support and training, costs of facilities and computer equipment used in these activities, telecommunications expense and allocations of indirect costs such as corporate overhead.

A comparison of cost of revenues is presented below:

Cost of revenues remained consistent during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year.

Research and development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs related to research and development personnel, including salaries and other personnel-related expenses, consulting fees, facilities costs, computer and communications equipment, support services used in our service and technology development, and allocations of indirect costs such as corporate overhead.

A comparison of research and development expenses is presented below:

Research and development expenses increased slightly during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, due to a combination of individually insignificant factors.

Selling, general and administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other personnel-related expenses for our executive, administrative, legal, finance, information technology, human resources, sales, and marketing personnel, travel and related expenses, trade shows, costs of computer and communications equipment and support services, consulting and professional service fees, costs of marketing programs, costs of facilities, management information systems, support services, and certain tax and license fees, offset by allocations of indirect costs such as facilities and shared services expenses to other cost types.

A comparison of selling, general and administrative expenses is presented below:

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, primarily due to an increase in compensation and benefits expenses, including stock-based compensation expenses. Compensation and benefits expenses, including stock-based compensation expenses, increased by $3.8 million, primarily due to higher expenses for certain employee health insurance related benefits, annual salary increases, and an increase in the total projected achievement levels on certain performance-based RSU grants.

Interest expense

Interest expense increased slightly during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, due to interest accrued on the 2032 Notes issued on March 11, 2025.

Non-operating income, net

Non-operating income decreased during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in interest income as a result of lower amounts invested in debt securities in the current period and slightly lower interest rates on the Company’s investments in debt securities.

Income tax expense

The following table presents Income tax expense and the effective tax rate:

The effective tax rate for each of the periods in the table above differed from the statutory federal rate of 21%, due to state income taxes and U.S. taxes on foreign earnings, net of foreign tax credits, partially offset by a lower foreign effective tax rate.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following table presents our principal sources of liquidity:

The marketable securities primarily consist of debt securities issued by the U.S. Treasury meeting the criteria of our investment policy, which is focused on the preservation of our capital through investment in investment grade securities. The cash equivalents consist of amounts invested in money market funds, time deposits and U.S. Treasury bills purchased with original maturities of three months or less. As of March 31, 2025, all of our debt securities have contractual maturities of less than one year. Our cash and cash equivalents are readily accessible. For additional information on our investment portfolio, see Note 2, “Financial Instruments,” of our Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in Part I, Item I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Effective July 25, 2024, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of our common stock in the amount of $1.11 billion, in addition to the $388.0 million that remained available for repurchases under the share repurchase program, for a total repurchase authorization of up to $1.50 billion under the program. During the three months ended March 31, 2025, we repurchased 1.0 million shares of our common stock for an aggregate cost of $229.9 million. As of March 31, 2025, there was approximately $792.7 million remaining available for future share repurchases under the share repurchase program.

On March 11, 2025, we issued $500.0 million of 5.25% senior notes due June 1, 2032. On March 31, 2025, we used the net proceeds from the 2032 Notes, along with cash on hand, to fund the repayment of all of our $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding 5.25% senior notes due April 1, 2025. As of March 31, 2025, we also had $750.0 million principal amount outstanding of 2.70% senior unsecured notes due 2031 and $550.0 million principal amount outstanding of 4.75% senior unsecured notes due 2027. As of March 31, 2025, we had no outstanding borrowings and $200.0 million in borrowing capacity under our credit facility which matures in 2028.

On April 23, 2025, our Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of our outstanding common stock to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 19, 2025, payable on May 28, 2025. We intend to continue to pay a cash dividend on a quarterly basis, subject to market conditions and approval by our Board of Directors.

We believe existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and funds generated from operations, together with our ability to arrange for additional financing should be sufficient to meet our working capital, capital expenditure requirements, fund our dividend program, and to service our debt for the next 12 months and beyond. We regularly assess our cash management approach and activities in view of our current and potential future needs. Our cash requirements have not changed materially since the 2024 Form 10-K.

In summary, our cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were as follows:

Cash flows from operating activities

Our largest source of operating cash flows is cash collections from our customers. Our primary uses of cash from operating activities are for personnel-related expenditures and other general operating expenses, as well as payments related to taxes, interest and facilities.

Net cash provided by operating activities increased during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, primarily due to an increase in cash received from customers, partially offset by increases in cash paid for interest and cash paid for income taxes. Cash received from customers increased primarily due to the .com and .net price increases and higher .com domain name registrations and renewals. Cash paid for interest increased due to the payment of interest accrued on our 2025 Notes in March 2025, prior to their maturity date of April 1, 2025. Cash paid for income taxes increased primarily due to comparatively higher non-US income tax payments.

Cash flows from investing activities

The changes in cash flows from investing activities primarily relate to purchases, maturities and sales of marketable securities, and purchases of property and equipment.

Net cash provided by investing activities decreased during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in proceeds from maturities and sales of marketable securities, net of purchases of marketable securities.

Cash flows from financing activities

The changes in cash flows from financing activities primarily relate to proceeds from and repayment of borrowings, share repurchases, and proceeds from our employee stock purchase plan.

Net cash used in financing activities decreased during the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to the same period last year, primarily due to proceeds received from the issuance of our 2032 Notes and a decrease in share repurchases, partially offset by the repayment of our 2025 Notes.

There have been no significant changes in our market risk exposures since December 31, 2024.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer (our principal executive officer) and our Chief Financial Officer (our principal financial officer), evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, as of March 31, 2025, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the three months ended March 31, 2025 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Inherent Limitations of Disclosure Controls and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Because of their inherent limitations, our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting may not prevent material errors or fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. The effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting is subject to risks, including that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with our policies or procedures may deteriorate.

PART II—OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are involved in various investigations, claims and lawsuits arising in the normal conduct of our business, none of which, in our opinion, will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. We cannot assure you that we will prevail in any litigation. Regardless of the outcome, any litigation may require us to incur significant litigation expense and may result in significant diversion of management attention.

Please carefully consider the following discussion of significant factors, events and uncertainties that make an investment in our securities risky. In addition to other information in this Form 10-Q, the following risk factors should be carefully considered in evaluating us and our business. When the factors, events and contingencies described below or elsewhere in this Form 10-Q materialize, our business, operating results, financial condition, reputation, cash flows or prospects can be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition, reputation, cash flows and prospects. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-Q as a result of the risk factors discussed below and elsewhere in this Form 10-Q and in other filings we make with the SEC.

Cybersecurity and Technology Risk Factors

Attempted security breaches, including from the exploitation of vulnerabilities, cyber-attacks and Distributed Denial of Service (“DDoS”) attacks against our systems and services increase our costs, expose us to potentially material liability, and could materially harm our business and reputation.

As an operator of critical internet infrastructure, we experience a high rate of cyber-attacks and attempted security breaches targeting our systems and services, including the most sophisticated forms of attacks, such as advanced persistent threat attacks, exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities, ransomware attacks, and social engineering attacks. The forms of these attacks are constantly evolving and may involve methods, tools, and strategies that may not have been previously identified and may not have been observed until the moment of launch, or until sometime after, making these attacks virtually impossible to anticipate and difficult to defend against. In addition to external threats, our systems and services are subject to insider threat risks, including physical or electronic break-ins, sabotage, and risks from suppliers, such as consultants and advisors, SaaS providers, hardware, software, and network systems manufacturers, regional internet registries, and other vendors, or from current or former contractors or employees. These threats and any resulting security breaches can arise from intentional or unintentional actions. Our continued exposure to these threats and the potential that they could lead to material liability claims against us requires us to expend significant financial and other resources. We have developed policies, standards, and procedures to identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover from threats posed by cybersecurity risks, and failure to comply with these policies, standards, and procedures by our employees or suppliers could limit our ability to effectively manage threats from these cybersecurity risks. In addition, we must ensure that our employees stay focused on protecting the Company against cybersecurity threats especially in our hybrid work environment, or our ability to effectively manage cybersecurity risks could be impacted. Our failure to effectively manage these security risks, including insider threats, could result in material harm to our business, including loss of or delay in revenues, failure to meet service level agreements, material liability claims, failure to maintain market acceptance, injury to our reputation, and increased costs, and could call into question our ability to preserve the security and stability of the internet.

Security vulnerabilities in our systems and our vendors’ systems, including vulnerabilities in third party software and hardware, pose a material risk to our operations. We use externally-developed technology, systems, and services, including both hardware and software, for a variety of purposes, including compute, storage, encryption and authentication, back-office support, and other functions. We have developed policies, standards, and procedures to reduce the impact of security vulnerabilities in system components, as well as at any vendors where our data is stored or processed. However, such measures cannot provide absolute security. Vulnerabilities could be exploited before a vulnerability has been disclosed or before our remediation is effective and if so, could cause systems and service interruptions, data loss and other damages. Our failure to identify, remediate and mitigate security vulnerabilities, including any potential failure to timely replace and upgrade hardware,

software, or other technology assets, could result in material harm to our business, including loss of or delay in revenues, failure to meet service level agreements, material liability claims, failure to maintain market acceptance, injury to our reputation, increased costs, and call into question our ability to preserve the security and stability of the internet.

In addition, our networks have been, and likely will continue to be, subject to DDoS attacks. Recent industry experience has demonstrated that DDoS attacks continue to grow in size and sophistication and have the ability to widely disrupt internet services. We have successfully mitigated DDoS attacks to date; however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to defend against every attack, especially as the attacks increase in size and sophistication. Any attack, even if only partially successful, could disrupt our networks, increase response time, negatively impact our ability to meet our service level agreements, and generally impede our ability to provide reliable service to our customers and the broader internet community. We have historically incurred, and will continue to incur, significant costs to enable our infrastructure to process levels of attack traffic that can be substantially larger than our normal transaction volume. We are employing new technologies and new and different services and capabilities to help mitigate DDoS attacks. If these new technologies, services and capabilities are not effective, our infrastructure could be disrupted, our response times could increase, our ability to meet our service level agreements could be negatively impacted, and our ability to provide reliable service to our customers and the broader internet community could be impeded.

In addition, we are subject to social engineering attacks including phishing, spear phishing, whaling, vishing, smishing, and domain spoofing, which are designed to entice people to divulge sensitive information or take actions that, if successful, could pose a material risk to our operations. The number of such attacks is increasing. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have increased the sophistication of these types of attacks as attackers are able to create more personalized and targeted communications using information derived from people’s relationships, online behavior and preferences. Social engineering attacks have occurred in concert with ransomware attacks. The various measures we take to mitigate cyber-attacks, including our deployment of advanced tools and implementation of redundant architecture and multiple recovery solutions, as well as conducting continuous security awareness training to address social engineering attacks and periodic exercises to mitigate the threat of ransomware cannot provide absolute security. We still may be subject to successful cyber attacks. Our failure to prevent such attacks, including any successful social engineering attack, could result in our inability to meet our service level agreements and could otherwise materially harm our business, including from legal claims, governmental investigations and scrutiny, injury to our reputation, and increased costs.

We

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Insider Trading Arrangements

Our directors and executive officers may from time to time enter into plans or other arrangements for the purchase or sale of our shares that are intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) or may represent a non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement under the Exchange Act.

On February 15, 2025, D. James Bidzos, the Company's Executive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, adopted a trading plan intended to satisfy Rule 10b5-1(c) to sell up to 144,000 shares of Company common stock between May 20, 2025 and May 14, 2026, subject to certain conditions.

On February 18, 2025, Thomas Indelicarto, the Company's Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, adopted a trading plan intended to satisfy Rule 10b5-1(c) to sell up to 12,000 shares of Company common stock between May 20, 2025 and April 30, 2026, subject to certain conditions.

On February 27, 2025, George Kilguss, the Company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, adopted a trading plan intended to satisfy Rule 10b5-1(c) to sell up to 60,000 shares of Company common stock between June 10, 2025 and June 17, 2026, subject to certain conditions.

There were no other directors or executive officers that adopted, terminated or modified plans or other arrangements during the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

As required under Item 6—Exhibits, the exhibits filed as part of this report are provided in this separate section. The exhibits included in this section are as follows:

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.