{"podcast":{"title":"Charged Alpha Stock Encyclopedia","slug":"charged-alpha-stock-encyclopedia-7819792","podcast_index_feed_id":7819792,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/chargedalpha/feed.xml","website_url":"https://chargedalpha.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22241603/charged_alpha_logo_2048.png","author":"Colton Thomas","episode_count":1630,"summary":"Charged Alpha reviews earnings for each stock in the Russel 1000 every quarter. Each podcast gives thorough analysis, along with an in-depth profile in the beginning of the episode of the company, what they do, how they earn money and what to look for.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-04T06:17:14.359815+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/charged-alpha-stock-encyclopedia-7819792"},"episode":{"title":"VeriSign Stock (VRSN): The .com Monopoly Is Growing AGAIN and RAISED Guidance — So Why We Say HOLD","slug":"verisign-stock-vrsn-the-com-monopoly-is-growing-again-and-raised-guidance-so-why-we-say-hold","published_at":"2026-07-24T03:37:52+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/charged-alpha-stock-encyclopedia-7819792/verisign-stock-vrsn-the-com-monopoly-is-growing-again-and-raised-guidance-so-why-we-say-hold","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/charged-alpha-stock-encyclopedia-7819792","url":"https://chargedalpha.podbean.com/e/verisign-stock-vrsn-the-com-monopoly-is-growing-again-and-raised-guidance-%e2%80%94-so-why-we-say-hold/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/q3e9d689odbyw61i/audio_p.mp3","summary":"VeriSign (VRSN) Q2 2026 — VeriSign (VRSN), the government-sanctioned monopoly operator of the .com and .net domain registries, reported a solid Q2 2026: diluted EPS of $2.38 (+8% YoY) narrowly missed the ~$2.42 estimate, but revenue rose 6.0% to $434.6M (a beat), operating income grew to $296.3M (a ~68% operating margin), and net income was $217M. The story was the domain name base turning back up: 179.1M .com/.net names (+5.1% YoY, +3.05M net in the quarter) with a near-record 12.7M new registrations (vs 10.4M a year ago), driven partly by AI startups claiming domains. Management RAISED full-year guidance — revenue to $1.745-1.755B, operating income to ~$1.19B, and domain-base growth raised and narrowed to 5.2-6.0% (from 3.1-4.3%). A multi-year pricing runway also just switched on: .com wholesale rises 7% to $10.97 on Nov 1, 2026, with up to 7%/yr allowed through 2030. VeriSign generates ~$1.0B FCF/yr, returns >100% of it to owners (bought back $197M in Q2, added $884M to the buyback for $1.5B authorized, pays a $0.81 dividend), and Berkshire Hathaway is its largest holder. The stock, ~$262, is down ~16% from its $312 high. The catch: at ~28x earnings for a mid-single-digit grower with a real regulatory overhang, our per-share owner-earnings DCF pegs fair value near $275 — only ~5% above the price. Our call: HOLD. VeriSign (VRSN) is one of the most unusual franchises in the market — the sole, government-contracted operator of the .com and .net domain registries, the master address book for most of the internet, with a 29-year record of 100% resolution uptime and operating margins near 68%. It's such a rare, durable monopoly that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is its largest shareholder. Q2 2026 was solid with one small blemish: diluted EPS of $2.38 (+8% YoY) n…","meta_description":"VeriSign (VRSN) Q2 2026 — VeriSign (VRSN), the government-sanctioned monopoly operator of the .com and .net domain registries, reported a solid Q2 2026: d…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":853,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/charged-alpha-stock-encyclopedia-7819792/episodes/verisign-stock-vrsn-the-com-monopoly-is-growing-again-and-raised-guidance-so-why-we-say-hold/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/charged-alpha-stock-encyclopedia-7819792/verisign-stock-vrsn-the-com-monopoly-is-growing-again-and-raised-guidance-so-why-we-say-hold.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}