MSFT vs. VRSN: Microsoft vs. VeriSign Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Microsoft (MSFT) and VeriSign (VRSN) both fall under the Software & Services industry group, but MSFT is classified in Software while VRSN is classified in IT Services.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Microsoft (MSFT) is heavily traded at around 22.95M shares per day, whereas VeriSign (VRSN) sees a more moderate 869.64K — larger orders in the latter may require more patience and tighter control over order sizing.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: Microsoft (MSFT) earns 34.22% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; VeriSign (VRSN) has no ROE this period.

VeriSign (VRSN) at 49.07% keeps the most of each sales dollar — above its industry’s net margin range — and Microsoft (MSFT) at 41.17% also retains a top-quartile share.

Before financing and tax, both Microsoft (MSFT) at 49.76% and VeriSign (VRSN) at 68.62% run unusually efficient core operations — each operating margin clears its industry’s benchmark range.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Microsoft (MSFT) at 17.79% is around its peer norm for revenue growth, while VeriSign (VRSN) at 6.37% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker demand or pricing momentum.

Both Microsoft (MSFT) at 31.60% and VeriSign (VRSN) at 10.13% land near their industries' usual EPS growth ranges, so bottom-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Microsoft (MSFT) at 1.23 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while VeriSign (VRSN) at 0.42 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for VRSN.

Only one side’s leverage can be read here: Microsoft (MSFT) carries debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28 against its industry range, while VeriSign (VRSN) reports no figure this period.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Both Microsoft (MSFT) at 0.69% and VeriSign (VRSN) at 1.03% yield above their industries’ entire benchmark ranges — high enough that dividend safety, not income, becomes the first question.

Both Microsoft (MSFT) at 19.00% and VeriSign (VRSN) at 34.45% pay out more of their earnings than any of their industry peers — the thinnest cover in their groups, so dividend headroom deserves attention.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Both Microsoft (MSFT) at 27.69 and VeriSign (VRSN) at 33.23 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

Both Microsoft (MSFT) at 11.37 and VeriSign (VRSN) at 15.99 command a richer price per dollar of sales than most peers, sitting in the upper P/S ratio quartile of their industries.

VeriSign (VRSN) reports a negative P/B ratio of -12.13, meaning negative book equity — the multiple itself is not meaningful for valuation. Meanwhile Microsoft (MSFT) reports 8.38, ranking against industry peers normally.

Valuation Metrics