Verisign stock jumps following earnings note

Stock investors still think .com is king.

Verisign noted earnings yesterday and shares in the firm are up 12% in trading so far today.

Why the jump in share price following a dismal quarter for net domain name adds?

Well, Citigroup upgraded the firm from sell to neutral today saying “fundamentals have likely bottomed”. Financials apparently exceeded most expectations.

Verisign had just 0.42 million net adds in .com and .net last quarter. It expects Q3 net adds to rebound to between 0.6 million and 1.1, which is definitely a move in the right direction. With slipping renewal rates, these targets would indeed be rather strong and require strong fresh registrations.

The firm also disclosed a 10% price hike on .net. No knowledgeable analyst didn’t see that coming, though.

Of course, when the first credible note comes out suggesting that fresh TLDs are making a dent in .com…