VeriSign Earnings Neither ScarySign Nor VeriBuy (VRSN)

We have just seen earnings out of VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN).  The web versions of "General Eclectic" has a very difficult to compare earnings report because of "total operations" and its core operations.  Its "total revenues was $303.2 million, which looks very high on the surface.  But its core revenues were $233 million and core non-GAAP EPS was $0.25.  First Call had estimates at $0.23 EPS on $231.39M in revenues. 

If the company gives guidance in its call, estimates for next quarterare $0.26 EPS on $240.59M in revenues and fiscal Dec-2008 estimates are$1.00 EPS on $947.36M in revenues.

The company did note that expense management added 400-basis points tomargin and resulted in $169 million cash flow in the quarter.  It endedwith $669 million in cash and equivalents and posted deferred revenueswas up $19 million sequentially to $780 million.

The company also added as of yesterday an additional buyback allowanceof $680 million, which would bring the total to $1 Billion.

These numbers are actually better than we would assumed with the recentmanagement departures and issues in the company.  We won’t call it awin or loss until formal guidance can be gleamed, but shares arelooking down over 2.5% at $33.00 in after-hours trading.

Jon C. Ogg
August 6, 2008