VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), reported financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013 reporting revenue of $244 million up 9% from the same quarter in 2012.

Verisign reported net income of $81 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.53 for the third quarter of 2013, compared to net income of $78 million and diluted EPS of $0.47 in the same quarter in 2012.

The operating margin was 54.5% for the third quarter of 2013 compared to 51.9% for the same quarter in 2012.

Business Highlights

• Verisign Registry Services added 1.55 million net new names during the third quarter, ending with 125.9 million active domain names in the zone for .com and .net, which represents a 5 percent increase over the zone at the end of the third quarter in 2012.

• In the third quarter, Verisign processed 8.3 million new domain name registrations as compared to 7.8 million in the same quarter in 2012.

• The final .com and .net renewal rate for the second quarter of 2013 was 72.7% compared with 72.9% for the same quarter in 2012. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.

In the earnings call that followed, Verisign estimated the  number of .com/.net registrations will increase by the end of the 4th quarter of 2013 by 1.1 to 1.5 million domain names.

Financial Highlights

Verisign ended the third quarter with Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities of $1.8 billion, an increase of $250 million from year-end 2012.
• During the third quarter, Verisign repurchased 6.8 million shares of its common stock for $331 million. At Sept. 30, 2013, $697 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program.