威瑞信 (VRSN) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone. Welcome to Verisign's first quarter 2025 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. Recording of this call is not permitted unless preauthorized. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. David Atchley, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好。歡迎參加 Verisign 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。除非事先獲得授權，否則不允許錄製此通話。現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁兼公司財務主管 David Atchley 先生。先生，請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Verisign's first quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining me are Jim Bidzos, Executive Chairman, President and CEO; George Kilguss, Executive Vice President and CFO; and John Calys, Senior Vice President, Global Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, who will become Chief Financial Officer at the end of May upon George's retirement. This call and presentation are being webcast from the Investor Relations website, which is available under about Verisign on verisign.com. There, you will also find our earnings release.

謝謝您，接線生。歡迎參加 Verisign 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。與我一起出席的還有執行董事長、總裁兼首席執行官 Jim Bidzos；喬治·基爾格斯 (George Kilguss)，執行副總裁兼首席財務官；以及高級副總裁、全球財務總監兼首席會計官約翰·卡利斯 (John Calys)，他將於 5 月底喬治退休後擔任首席財務官。此次電話會議和演示將在投資者關係網站上進行網路直播，您可以在 verisign.com 上的「關於威瑞信」專欄下訪問。您也可以在那裡找到我們的收益報告。

At the end of this call, the presentation will be available on that site, and within a few hours, the replay of the call will be posted. Financial results in our earnings release are unaudited, and our remarks include forward-looking statements that are subject to the risks and uncertainties that we discuss in detail in our documents filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent report on Form 10-K and 10-Q.

本次通話結束後，簡報將在該網站上提供，並且在幾個小時內，將發布通話重播。我們收益報告中的財務結果未經審計，我們的評論包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受我們在向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中詳細討論的風險和不確定性的影響，特別是最新的 10-K 和 10-Q 表報告。

Verisign does not update financial information or guidance during the quarter unless it is done through a public disclosure. The financial results in today's call and the matters we will be discussing today include GAAP results and two non-GAAP measures used by Verisign, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.

除非透過公開揭露，否則威瑞信不會在季度內更新財務資訊或指引。今天電話會議中的財務結果和我們今天將要討論的事項包括 GAAP 結果和 Verisign 使用的兩個非 GAAP 指標、調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金流。

GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation information is appended to the slide presentation, which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website available after this call. Jim and George will provide some prepared remarks, and afterward, we will open the call for your questions.

GAAP 與非 GAAP 的對帳資訊已附加到幻燈片簡報中，您可以在本次電話會議後在我們網站的「投資者關係」部分找到。吉姆和喬治將發表一些準備好的講話，之後我們將開始回答大家的提問。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Jim.

說完這些，我想把電話轉給吉姆。

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. This month, Verisign celebrated 30 years since its incorporation. It was incubated beginning in 1986 by RSA Data Security, where I was CEO. Verisign has changed significantly over the years, and we're particularly proud of Verisign's mission and role in providing critical Internet information services.

謝謝你，大衛。大家下午好，感謝大家的參與。本月，威瑞信慶祝了其成立 30 週年。它是由 RSA Data Security 於 1986 年孵化的，當時我是該公司的執行長。多年來，威瑞信發生了巨大的變化，我們對威瑞信在提供關鍵網路資訊服務方面的使命和作用感到特別自豪。

Turning to the first quarter results. Verisign's performance in the first quarter reflects sequentially improving trends and the soundness of our business model. At the end of March, the domain name base for .com and .net totaled 169.8 million domain names, up 777,000 from year-end of 2024.

談到第一季的業績。威瑞信第一季的業績反映了連續改善的趨勢和我們商業模式的穩健性。截至3月底，.com和.net網域名稱庫總數達1.698億個，較2024年底增加77.7萬個。

New registrations for the first quarter totaled 10.1 million compared with 9.5 million for both last quarter and the same quarter last year. The renewal rate for the first quarter of 2025 is expected to be 75.3% compared to 74.1% a year ago.

第一季新註冊用戶總數為 1,010 萬，而上一季及去年同期均為 950 萬。預計 2025 年第一季的續約率將達到 75.3%，而去年同期為 74.1%。

From a geographic perspective, during the first quarter, we saw trends improve with increases in the domain name base from our three main regions: the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Given these improving domain name base trends, we now expect the change in the domain name base to be between negative 0.7% or negative 70 bps and positive 0.9% or 90 bps for 2025.

從地理角度來看，第一季度，我們看到趨勢有所改善，來自三個主要地區的網域庫有所增加：美國、歐洲、中東和非洲地區以及亞太地區。鑑於這些不斷改善的網域基礎趨勢，我們現在預計 2025 年網域基礎的變化將在 -0.7% 或 -70 個基點和 +0.9% 或 90 個基點之間。

As mentioned last quarter, we saw improving trends at the end of 2024, which continued during the first quarter, resulting in both improved new registrations and renewal rates. It's still early, but we do see signs of registrars shifting towards customer acquisition, and we also see more registrar engagement with our marketing programs.

正如上個季度所提到的，我們在 2024 年底看到了改善趨勢，這種趨勢在第一季得以延續，導致新註冊率和續訂率均有所提高。現在還為時過早，但我們確實看到註冊商轉向客戶獲取的跡象，並且我們也看到更多註冊商參與我們的行銷計劃。

Our updated guidance reflects these trends, but also includes a measure of caution until the macroeconomic situation clarifies. And as a reminder, any expenses associated with marketing programs are fully accounted for in our guidance.

我們更新的指導反映了這些趨勢，但也包括在宏觀經濟形勢明朗之前的某種程度的謹慎。提醒一下，與行銷計劃相關的任何費用都已在我們的指導中充分考慮。

Our financial and liquidity position continues to remain stable with $649 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of the quarter. During the first quarter, we repurchased 1 million shares, returning $230 million to shareholders.

我們的財務和流動性狀況持續保持穩定，本季末現金、現金等價物和有價證券為 6.49 億美元。第一季度，我們回購了 100 萬股，向股東返還了 2.3 億美元。

At quarter end, $793 million remained available and authorized under the current share repurchase program, which has no expiration. As announced in today's earnings release, Verisign's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of Verisign's outstanding common stock to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 19, 2025, payable on May 28, 2025.

截至本季末，現行股票回購計畫仍可用並授權 7.93 億美元，且該計畫無到期日。正如今天的收益報告所宣布的那樣，威瑞信董事會宣布向 2025 年 5 月 19 日營業時間結束前登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.77 美元的現金股息，股息支付日期為 2025 年 5 月 28 日。

Verisign intends to continue to pay a cash dividend on a quarterly basis, subject to market conditions and approval by Verisign's Board of Directors. We are pleased to introduce a cash dividend as part of our return of capital commitment to shareholders.

威瑞信計劃繼續按季度支付現金股息，但需視市場狀況和威瑞信董事會的批准而定。我們很高興推出現金股息，作為對股東資本回報承諾的一部分。

We will continue our capital allocation focus first on maintaining adequate liquidity; second, investing in the business and then returning excess cash to shareholders with a portion of that return now through quarterly cash dividends.

我們將繼續把資本配置重點首先放在保持充足的流動性上；第二，投資於企業業務，然後將多餘的現金透過季度現金股利回饋給股東。

This initiation of a cash dividend doesn't change the way we think about the total amount of shareholder return. In addition to an ongoing commitment to maintain a dividend, we intend to grow the dividend annually with our earnings growth. We view the decision to become a dividend issuer as a natural evolutionary step to diversify our return of cash to shareholders.

此次現金分紅並不會改變我們對股東回報總額的看法。除了持續承諾維持股利外，我們還打算隨著獲利的成長每年增加股利。我們認為，成為股利發行人的決定是實現股東現金回報多元化的自然進化步驟。

And now I'd like to turn the call over to George. I'll return when George has completed his financial report with closing remarks.

現在我想把電話轉給喬治。喬治完成財務報告並作完總結後我會回來。

Thanks, Jim, and good afternoon, everyone. For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, the company generated revenue of $402 million, up 4.7% from the same quarter a year ago. Operating expense in Q1 2025 totaled $131 million, which compares to $132 million last quarter and $125 million for the first quarter a year ago. While similar sequentially, the year-over-year increase in expense is mainly due to a slight increase in headcount and incentive-based compensation accrual adjustments.

謝謝，吉姆，大家下午好。截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的季度，該公司的營收為 4.02 億美元，比去年同期成長 4.7%。2025 年第一季的營運費用總計 1.31 億美元，而上一季為 1.32 億美元，去年同期第一季為 1.25 億美元。儘管與上一季類似，但費用年增主要是由於員工人數和基於激勵的薪酬應計調整略有增加。

Net income in the first quarter totaled $199 million compared to $191 million last quarter and $194 million a year ago, which produced diluted earnings per share of $2.10 for the first quarter this year compared to $2 last quarter and $1.92 for the same quarter of 2024. During the quarter, the company issued $500 million (corrected by company after the call) of new 5.25% senior notes due 2032 to refinance the company's existing $500 million, 5.25% 2025 senior notes, which matured on April 1.

第一季淨收入總計 1.99 億美元，而上季為 1.91 億美元，去年同期為 1.94 億美元，今年第一季每股攤薄收益為 2.10 美元，而上季為 2 美元，2024 年同期為 1.92 美元。本季度，該公司發行了 5 億美元（公司在召集後進行了更正）新的 5.25% 2032 年到期的優先票據，以對該公司現有的 5 億美元、5.25% 2025 年優先票據進行再融資，該票據於 4 月 1 日到期。

Operating cash flow for the first quarter of 2025 was $291 million, and free cash flow was $286 million compared with the $257 million and $254 million, respectively, in the year ago quarter. I'll now discuss our updated full year 2025 guidance. Revenue is now expected to be between $1.635 billion and $1.650 billion.

2025 年第一季的經營現金流為 2.91 億美元，自由現金流為 2.86 億美元，去年同期分別為 2.57 億美元及 2.54 億美元。我現在將討論我們更新後的 2025 年全年指導。目前預計收入將在 16.35 億美元至 16.50 億美元之間。

Operating income is now expected to be between $1.110 billion and $1.125 billion. Interest expense and non-operating income net, which includes interest income estimates, is still expected to be an expense of between $50 million and $60 million.

目前預計營業收入在 11.10 億美元至 11.25 億美元之間。包括利息收入估算在內的利息支出和非營業收入淨額預計仍為 5,000 萬美元至 6,000 萬美元之間的支出。

Capital expenditures are still expected to be between $30 million and $40 million. And the GAAP effective tax rate is still expected to be between 21% and 24%. In summary, Verisign continued to demonstrate sound financial discipline during the quarter.

預計資本支出仍將在 3,000 萬美元至 4,000 萬美元之間。而GAAP有效稅率預計仍將在21%至24%之間。總而言之，Verisign 在本季繼續表現出良好的財務紀律。

Now I'll turn the call back to Jim for his closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給吉姆，請他作結束語。

Thank you, George. I'd like to acknowledge and thank George for his 13 years of service to Verisign as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. George has been instrumental in providing outstanding financial acumen and leadership to our operations and our teams, and we wish him the best in retirement.

謝謝你，喬治。我要感謝喬治，他擔任威瑞信執行副總裁兼財務長 13 年來一直為威瑞信服務。喬治為我們的營運和團隊提供了出色的財務敏銳度和領導力，我們祝他退休後一切順利。

John Calys, Senior Vice President, Global Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, has served as Interim CFO in the past and has worked closely with George over many years and will become Chief Financial Officer upon George's retirement at the end of May, making for a seamless transition. Thanks for your attention today. This concludes our prepared remarks, and now we'll open the call for your questions. Operator, we're ready for the first question.

高級副總裁、全球財務總監兼首席會計官 John Calys 曾擔任臨時首席財務官，多年來一直與 George 密切合作，並將在 George 於 5 月底退休後擔任首席財務官，從而實現無縫過渡。感謝您今天的關注。我們的準備好的演講到此結束，現在我們將開始回答大家的提問。接線員，我們已準備好回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Ygal Arounian, Citigroup.

花旗集團的 Ygal Arounian。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. Thanks. I'll start with George. Congrats on the retirement, George, and good luck on the next step. And I guess you left investors just a little bit of a parting gift here on the dividend. Can you elaborate a little bit on the timing of why now is the right time to initiate a dividend? And on the comment that doesn't change how you think about total shareholder return, does that mean that we should expect less buybacks because of the dividend? Or maybe you could just put it in the context of that? And then I'll have some follow-ups.

嘿，大家下午好。謝謝。我先從喬治開始。恭喜喬治退休，祝你下一步好運。我想您留給投資人的只是一點股利的離別禮物。您能否詳細說明為什麼現在是開始發放股息的最佳時機？關於不會改變您對股東總回報的看法的評論，這是否意味著我們應該因為股利而減少回購？或者也許你可以把它放在這樣的背景下？然後我會進行一些後續跟進。

Hi, Ygal, it's Jim. Let me answer part of that question for you. Maybe I'll invite George to comment further. But well, first of all, we're pleased to be able to diversify the method of shareholder return to now include regular dividends. I don't think there's much more to say than what I covered in my prepared remarks.

你好，Ygal，我是 Jim。讓我來為您回答部分問題。也許我會邀請喬治進一步評論。但首先，我們很高興能夠實現股東回報方式的多樣化，現在包括定期股息。我認為除了我在準備好的發言稿中已經講過的內容以外，沒有什麼可說的了。

The company has had a long track record of returning excess cash to shareholders and has been considering the quarterly cash dividend for quite some time. Today's announcement is consistent with that long track record and with our expectations of and confidence in the continued stability and strength of our business.

該公司長期以來一直向股東返還超額現金，並且一直在考慮發放季度現金股利。今天的公告與長期以來的業績記錄一致，也符合我們對業務持續穩定和實力的期望和信心。

George, did you want to add anything?

喬治，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Ygal, I think, as Jim said, we're just diversifying our return of capital to shareholders. And we'll continue to go through our strategic framework of how we think about capital allocation as we've done in the past. And I think you'll see us do a combination of the two. But clearly, it's really a statement of the company's stability in our business model, and we just think it's the right time to start diversifying that method of return of capital.

是的。Ygal，我認為，正如 Jim 所說，我們只是在將資本回報多元化給股東。我們將繼續按照過去的方式，透過策略框架來思考資本配置。我想你會看到我們將兩者結合起來。但顯然，這確實顯示了公司業務模式的穩定性，我們只是認為現在是開始實現資本回報方式多樣化的正確時機。

Okay. Thanks. And then so two follow-ups on the business and the trends. So with 1Q domain name base outperforming your expectations, you're taking up your outlook for the year because of that. Can you just talk about what you think were the biggest drivers of the outperformance relative to what you were expecting at the beginning of the year?

好的。謝謝。然後是關於業務和趨勢的兩個後續問題。因此，由於第一季的網域基礎超出了您的預期，因此您決定對今年的前景進行展望。您能否談談，相對於年初的預期，您認為業績表現優異的最大驅動因素是什麼？

And as we kind of work our way through the rest of the year, particularly with some of the macro questions, what are the factors that get you to the low end of the range versus the high end of the range over the course of the rest of the year? And then second question on .net. We didn't get the pricing increase in February like we have in the past few years. Just any updated thoughts on how you're thinking about pricing there? Thank you.

當我們研究今年剩餘時間的情況時，特別是對於一些宏觀問題，哪些因素導致您在今年剩餘時間內處於範圍的低端而不是高端？然後是關於.net的第二個問題。與過去幾年不同，我們在二月沒有出現價格上漲。您對於那裡的定價有什麼最新的想法嗎？謝謝。

Sure, Ygal. It's George. So with regard to our guidance, you're right. We're off to a solid start of the year, delivering 770,000 net adds here in Q1. And as a result, we took the guidance up, as Jim mentioned, from down 0.7% to positive 0.9%, which is a range of about 1.2 million names down to 1.5 million names up with a midpoint of about 200,000 there.

當然，伊加爾。是喬治。因此，關於我們的指導，你是對的。今年我們開局良好，第一季淨增 77 萬名用戶。因此，正如 Jim 所提到的那樣，我們將預期從下降 0.7% 上調至上升 0.9%，即從下降約 120 萬個名字到上升 150 萬個名字之間，中間點約為 20 萬個名字。

I think at the end of the day, what the guidance is really reflecting is the positive trends we're seeing here. But as Jim mentioned, it also reflects a measure of caution as we're still early in the cycle and the macroeconomic outlook is a bit unclear.

我認為，最終，該指導真正反映的是我們所看到的正面趨勢。但正如吉姆所提到的，這也反映出一定程度的謹慎，因為我們仍處於週期的早期階段，宏觀經濟前景有點不明朗。

We also have some seasonality to the domain name base in the first quarter, which is typically our strongest. But I think we're encouraged by the results. And the activity of our registrars and hence, we took the guidance up pretty substantially here in Q1.

第一季的網域基礎也有一定的季節性，這通常是我們最強勁的。但我認為我們對結果感到鼓舞。以及我們的註冊商的活動，因此，我們在第一季大幅提高了指導。

As regards to your second question on .net price increases, I think you're aware that we really don't provide guidance with regard to pricing changes for our TLDs, but we do have to provide a six month notice of any potential changes that we make.

關於您關於 .net 價格上漲的第二個問題，我想您知道我們實際上並沒有提供有關我們的 TLD 價格變化的指導，但我們必須提前六個月通知我們所做的任何潛在變化。

For .net, our last price increase became effective in February 2024, which placed our wholesale price for .net at $10.91. We, of course, regularly review our pricing strategies in conjunction with our go-to-market strategies for our TLDs. But as I mentioned, we don't provide pricing guidance for them as well.

對於 .net，我們上次漲價於 2024 年 2 月生效，當時 .net 的批發價為 10.91 美元。當然，我們會定期結合我們的頂級網域 (TLD) 的行銷策略來審查我們的定價策略。但正如我所提到的，我們也不為他們提供定價指引。

Great. Thank you so much.

偉大的。太感謝了。

Rob Oliver, Baird.

羅伯奧利弗，貝爾德。

Great. Thanks, guys. Good afternoon. I appreciate it. I have a couple of questions. Jim or George, I'll start with you guys first. Just on some of the activities around your marketing channel programs that you guys sort of kicked off last year. Would love to get an update on those, how -- what sort of traction you're seeing with them? George, I know you just commented that you were encouraged by the registrar activity generally.

偉大的。謝謝大家。午安.我很感激。我有幾個問題。吉姆或喬治，我先從你們開始。這只是你們去年啟動的一些有關行銷通路計畫的活動。很想了解這些方面的最新消息，您認為它們有什麼樣的發展前景？喬治，我知道你剛剛評論說，註冊商的活動總體上讓你感到鼓舞。

I think part of that might be registrars reengaging, but I would love to understand what portion of that is action you guys are taking and where you're seeing success with your marketing channel programs? And then I had a couple of follow-ups.

我認為部分原因可能是註冊商重新參與，但我很想了解其中有多少是你們正在採取的行動，以及你們的行銷通路計畫在哪些方面取得了成功？然後我又進行了幾次後續行動。

Yes. Sure, Rob. To answer your question with regard to marketing programs. So as we mentioned over the past few quarters, we rolled out a variety of new programs late in 2024 and early 2025. To date, we've seen good registrar interest in those programs. While it's still early, we do attribute some of the improved new registration trends we saw in the fourth quarter and here again in the first quarter to a registrar engagement with the programs that we rolled out.

是的。當然，羅布。回答您關於行銷計劃的問題。正如我們在過去幾個季度中提到的那樣，我們在 2024 年末和 2025 年初推出了各種新計劃。到目前為止，我們看到註冊商對這些計劃表現出濃厚的興趣。雖然現在還為時過早，但我們確實將第四季度和第一季看到的一些新註冊趨勢的改善歸功於註冊商對我們推出的計劃的參與。

I would call our activity that we saw here in the last two quarters, activity from what I would call early adopters of the programs that we rolled out last year. We'll also have some registrars that are continuing to test the programs that we rolled out here in 2025.

我認為我們在過去兩個季度中看到的活動是我們去年推出的計劃的早期採用者的活動。我們還將有一些註冊商繼續測試我們在 2025 年推出的計劃。

So we'll continue to monitor and work with the registrar community here to help them engage in our programs throughout the year. But I think early results are we're encouraged by them, but I think we still have some work to do.

因此，我們將繼續監控並與這裡的註冊商社群合作，以幫助他們全年參與我們的計劃。但我認為早期的結果令我們感到鼓舞，但我認為我們還有一些工作要做。

Great. That's helpful. Thanks. I appreciate it. Jim, on the strong domain guide, I think you said that it includes a measure of caution relative to the macro, which I think were your words. And I'd love to hear your take on the macro because on the one hand, it seems as if the registrars are starting to spend more, and we were super encouraged to see two leading registrars pony up for Super Bowl ads, which I think that was the first time in a handful of years that we've been tracking it that we saw that sort of a financial commitment, which was a positive.

偉大的。這很有幫助。謝謝。我很感激。吉姆，關於強域指南，我認為您說過它包含相對於宏的某種程度的謹慎，我認為這是您的話。我很想聽聽您對宏觀的看法，因為一方面，註冊商似乎開始花費更多，我們非常高興地看到兩家領先的註冊商為超級碗廣告付出了代價，我認為這是我們幾年來第一次看到這種財務承諾，這是一個積極的信號。

But obviously, there are some concerns on the macro right now. So I would love to hear just from you kind of what your take currently is on the macro. I guess it's a variance on Ygal's question earlier about how we might get on one or other end of that range?

但顯然，目前宏觀方面存在一些擔憂。所以我很想聽聽你目前對宏觀的看法。我猜這是 Ygal 之前提出的關於我們如何才能達到該範圍的一端或另一端的問題的變體？

Sure. I'll give it a shot here. I think, first of all, the components of all those pieces are, first of all, some things that we laid out last year that we would do and some things that we expected to shift favorably. So there are a couple of tailwinds that we thought would shift to headwinds, and it looks like that's beginning to happen a bit, a return to new customer acquisition and the focus on ARPU by the channel. And as you -- Super Bowl, for example, is clearly an indication of spend on new customer acquisition. So that's a favorable shift that we've seen since then.

當然。我會在這裡嘗試一下。我認為，首先，所有這些部分的組成部分首先是我們去年制定的一些計劃，我們將要做的事情，以及我們預計會發生有利轉變的一些事情。因此，我們認為一些順風因素會轉變為逆風，而且看起來這種情況已經開始有所發生，即重新回歸到新客戶的獲取和對渠道 ARPU 的關注。正如你所說——例如超級盃顯然表明了在新客戶獲取方面的支出。這是我們自那時以來所看到的有利轉變。

The things that we've done in our marketing programs that we've mentioned before, for example, we offered a range of programs simply as a way of providing needed flexibility in what was an evolving channel. It had changed. Traditional registrars, yes, of course, there are customers, but also we had website builders, et cetera. So one-size-fits-all approach didn't work as well. I think that's where we're seeing some interesting promising take-up even though it's a bit early.

例如，我們之前提到的行銷計劃中所做的事情，我們提供一系列計劃只是為了在不斷發展的管道中提供所需的靈活性。它已經改變了。傳統的註冊商，是的，當然有客戶，但我們也有網站建立者等等。因此，一刀切的方法並不奏效。我認為，儘管現在還為時過早，但我們還是看到了一些有趣的、有希望的進展。

I think the other thing that the component that we really can't identify is just I'm certainly not an economist, but I think I can recognize a bit of turmoil here, and I think it's just clarity. It's a question of clarity. As that clarifies, I think we'll get a better idea of where the future is and offer any updated guidance, of course, as appropriate. But this is just based on it being early in the year, a bit of uncertainty about where things will land. Hopefully, they will shortly, and we'll be able to give you better info.

我認為我們無法真正識別的另一個因素是我當然不是經濟學家，但我認為我可以識別出這裡有一些動盪，我認為這只是清晰度。這是一個清晰度的問題。隨著這一點的澄清，我認為我們將更好地了解未來的情況，並在適當的時候提供任何更新的指導。但這只是基於年初的情況，對於事情的走向還有一點不確定性。希望他們能盡快回复，這樣我們就能為您提供更好的資訊。

But we are certainly appreciative of the positive changes that we've seen. As I said, we've done what we can control, and we're seeing some results from that, and they trend favorably. And also, we are picking up some headwinds that have shifted into tailwinds that are helping us return to -- getting off ARPU and returning to new customer acquisition by the registrars, programs that are working for them. So those are the different components. The uncertainty is obviously the macroeconomic environment, which we just need more clarity on before we can get more comfortable.

但我們確實對所看到的積極變化表示讚賞。正如我所說，我們已經做了我們能控制的事情，我們看到了一些結果，而且趨勢是正面的。此外，我們正在克服一些不利因素，這些因素已經轉變為順風，幫助我們擺脫 ARPU 並重新透過註冊商和為他們服務的計劃來獲取新客戶。這些就是不同的組成部分。不確定性顯然是宏觀經濟環境，我們只是需要更清楚地了解它，然後才能更安心。

Got it. Okay. Helpful. Yes, and else. I had two other quick ones. One, John, welcome. And George, congratulations on your retirement. I guess just a quick question about some of the higher expenses that George had called out. Is this a new run rate of higher expenses? And just would love to get a sense from you of kind of your philosophy relative to that expense run rate?

知道了。好的。很有幫助。是的，還有其他的。我還有另外兩個快的。一、約翰，歡迎你。喬治，祝賀你退休。我想問喬治提到的一些較高費用的問題。這是費用增加的新運轉率嗎？我很想從您那裡了解您對費用運行率的看法？

Hey, thanks, Rob. This is John. If you look at the midpoint of our operating income guidance for the year, it implies a slight improvement in our operating margin, but it also implies a slight amount of spend that we incurred as a similar amount of spend that we incurred in the first quarter for the balance of 2025.

嘿，謝謝，羅布。這是約翰。如果您查看我們今年營業收入指引的中點，這意味著我們的營業利潤率略有提高，但也意味著我們產生的支出與 2025 年餘額第一季產生的支出類似。

As George mentioned in his prepared remarks, this is mainly due to slight increases in headcount and some of our incentive-based compensation programs. As in past quarters, we'll continue to focus on disciplined expense management and do that within our strategic framework.

正如喬治在其準備好的發言中提到的那樣，這主要是由於員工人數略有增加以及我們的一些基於激勵的薪酬計劃。與過去幾個季度一樣，我們將繼續專注於嚴格的費用管理，並在我們的策略框架內進行。

Got it. Great. Thanks. Look forward to working with you. And then last one for me is just any update from you guys on .web or anything we should be aware of there? Thanks very much.

知道了。偉大的。謝謝。期待與您合作。對我來說最後一個問題是你們在 .web 上有什麼更新嗎，或者我們應該注意什麼？非常感謝。

Thanks, Rob. Jim here. We do have a small update on .web. Just as in the first IRP, think arbitration IRP, this new IRP panel that we have has again rejected Altanovo's attempt to invalidate certain procedural rules in the hopes that doing so would exclude our participation in these IRP proceedings. With that effort rejected. We anticipate a ruling soon on our application to participate in the IRP and the final hearing in November.

謝謝，羅布。吉姆在這裡。我們確實對 .web 進行了小更新。就像在第一個 IRP 中一樣，想想仲裁 IRP，我們這個新的 IRP 小組再次拒絕了 Altanovo 試圖使某些程序規則無效的企圖，希望這樣做可以排除我們參與這些 IRP 程序。但這項努力被拒絕了。我們預計我們參與 IRP 的申請很快就會得到裁決，最終聽證會將於 11 月舉行。

To reiterate, Verisign, we intend to become the registry operator for .web, and we intend to bring this new TLD to our customers as soon as we can. We believe Altanovo's use of ICANN's processes to stop this from happening is an abusive process and is being pursued in bad faith to keep .web off the market. So that's the update this quarter.

再次重申，Verisign，我們打算成為 .web 的註冊營運商，並且我們打算盡快將這個新的 TLD 帶給我們的客戶。我們認為，阿爾塔諾沃利用 ICANN 的流程來阻止這種情況發生是一種濫用程序，並且是出於惡意，目的是將 .web 排除在市場之外。這就是本季的更新內容。

Okay. Alright. Great. I'll digest that, and then I'll come back to you guys, probably in the callback or with some follow-up questions. But really appreciate your time. Thanks very much.

好的。好吧。偉大的。我會消化這一點，然後再回來找你們，可能是在回電時或帶著一些後續問題。但真的很感謝您抽出時間。非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back to David Atchley for final comments.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我將電話轉回給 David Atchley 徵求最後的評論。

Thank you, operator. Please call the Investor Relations department with any follow-up questions from this call. Thank you for your participation. This concludes our call. Have a good evening.

謝謝您，接線生。如本次通話有任何後續問題，請致電投資者關係部門。感謝您的參與。我們的通話到此結束。祝您晚上愉快。

This does conclude today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。