VeriSign, Inc. VRSN

Competitive advantage analysis · technology

Software & SaaS Specialized
Overall moat score
62/100
Moderate

About VeriSign, Inc.

VeriSign, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides internet infrastructure and domain name registry services that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company provides root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce. It operates directory for .name … Full VRSN analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Premium Software Margins Gross margin quality is strong versus peers (score 0.99), consistent with premium software economics.
  • Revenue Converts Cleanly to Cash Cash conversion is strong (score 1.00), showing scalable economics.

Key risks

  • Returns Trail Peers Return profile is weak (score 0.01), pointing to limited capital efficiency.
  • Returns Lack Durability Return durability is weak (score 0.06), reducing confidence in moat durability.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Strong
99

Where VRSN ranks in Software - Infrastructure

VeriSign, Inc. ranks #37 of 176 scored companies in Software - Infrastructure by moat score — the top 21%. The widest moat in the group is Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) at 78/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near VRSN in Software - Infrastructure
# Company Moat score Rating
33 GitLab Inc. GTLB 63/100 Moderate
34 iLearningEngines, Inc. AILE 62/100 Moderate
35 Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM 62/100 Moderate
36 Synopsys, Inc. SNPS 62/100 Moderate
37 VeriSign, Inc. VRSN 62/100 Moderate
38 OneSpan Inc. OSPN 62/100 Moderate
39 Dropbox, Inc. DBX 62/100 Moderate
40 Informatica Inc. INFA 62/100 Moderate
41 MongoDB, Inc. MDB 62/100 Moderate

See every Software & SaaS company ranked by moat score →

How VRSN scores on the Software & SaaS Specialized defenses

Pricing Power

Score 98 · 20% of the moat score

In software, pricing power is visible in gross margin: a vendor that has to discount in order to renew gives it up first.

Recurring Revenue Stickiness

Score 68 · 18% of the moat score

Recurring revenue is the model's central claim, and it is a moat only when customers renew and expand without being re-sold each year.

Innovation Engine

Score 59 · 16% of the moat score

Software is competed away rather than depreciated, so a vendor that stops investing loses its category.

Cash Scalability

Score 78 · 18% of the moat score

The test of a software business is whether growth eventually stops consuming cash.

Capital Efficiency

Score 3 · 16% of the moat score

A software platform employs very little capital, so a genuine franchise should produce high returns on it without leverage.

Balance Sheet Resilience

Score 54 · 12% of the moat score

Software companies fund years of customer acquisition before those customers pay back, which makes access to capital a strategic variable rather than a treasury detail.

How each Software & SaaS Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding VRSN's moat

What is VeriSign, Inc.'s moat score?

VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) scores 62 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #37 of 176 scored companies in Software - Infrastructure, the top 21%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 175 companies in Software - Infrastructure. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (98/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (3/100).

How does VeriSign, Inc. compare with other Software - Infrastructure companies?

VeriSign, Inc. ranks #37 of 176 scored companies in Software - Infrastructure by moat score. The widest moat in Software - Infrastructure is Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) at 78/100. The companies ranked closest are Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) at 62 just above it and OneSpan Inc. (OSPN) at 62 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Software & SaaS Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 175 companies in Software - Infrastructure. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is VeriSign, Inc. scored with the Software & SaaS Specialized template?

Software costs almost nothing to reproduce, so the entire economic question is whether customers keep paying. Revenue is a subscription rather than a sale, the cost of winning a customer is paid years before that customer becomes profitable, and margins arrive only if renewals hold. The Software & SaaS template scores retention, reinvestment, and the point at which growth turns into cash.

Which competitive defenses are measured for VeriSign, Inc.?

The Software & SaaS Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and VRSN scores: Pricing Power (98), Recurring Revenue Stickiness (68), Innovation Engine (59), Cash Scalability (78), Capital Efficiency (3), Balance Sheet Resilience (54). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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