News

VeriSign, Inc VRSN is set to report its first-quarter 2024 results on Apr 25, after the closing bell.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.84 per share and $388 million, suggesting increases of 8.2% and 6.5%, respectively, from the year-ago quarter’s reported figures.

The company’s earnings beat the consensus estimate in all the last four quarters, the average beat being 4.8%.

VeriSign, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Factors to Note

VeriSign’s first-quarter earnings are expected to have benefited from its efforts to expand its critical infrastructure, services and capabilities to tap the growing demand for DNS navigation services in industries like commerce, education and healthcare. The company is expected to have benefited from growing Internet consumption globally.

However, softness in demand in the active domain name business for .com and .net TLDs is a major concern. China-based registrar demand has been weakening due to a stringent regulatory environment coupled with weakness in local currency and retail pricing adjustments.

VRSN ended fourth-quarter 2023 with 172.7 million .com and .net domain name registrations, down 0.6% year over year. In the last reported quarter, the company processed 9 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net compared with 9.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

Also, escalating operating expenses related to cybersecurity and infrastructure spending are likely to have weighed on the company’s first-quarter operating margin on a year-over-year basis.

What Does the Zacks Model Say?

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for VeriSign this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat.

VeriSign has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks you may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

Meta Platforms META has an Earnings ESP of +0.62% and presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. META is slated to release quarterly numbers on Apr 24. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for META’s to-be-reported quarter’s EPS and revenues is pegged at $4.32 and $36.25 billion, respectively. Shares of META have gained 126.1% in the past year.

IMAX Corporation IMAX has an Earnings ESP of +60.72% and currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. IMAX is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Apr 25.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IMAX’s to-be-reported quarter’s EPS and revenues is pegged at 9 cents and $76.8 million, respectively. Shares of IMAX have lost 15.3% in the past year.

SEI Investments Company SEIC has an Earnings ESP of +2.50% and a Zacks Rank #1. SEIC is set to report quarterly figures on Apr 24.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SEIC’s to-be-reported quarter’s EPS and revenues is pegged at 97 cents and $505.4 million, respectively. Shares of SEIC have surged 12.9% in the past year.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.