Last Call: VeriSign shares drop after CEO change

The shares fell $3.49, or 9.5 percent, to $33.25. In the past year, the stock has traded between $27.77 and $42.50.

VeriSign, which runs some of the Internet's core systems, said Thursday that Bidzos would replace Roper, who resigned from the company and its board on June 30.

Roper had been chief executive and president for slightly over a year.

VeriSign made the announcement on Thursday after the close of an abbreviated trading session ahead of the July 4 holiday.

During a conference call Thursday, Bidzos said that Roper's departure was voluntary, and that VeriSign's board is searching for a leader who can "guide the company through its next growth phase."

Until such a person is found, he is committed to making sure the company continues to follow through with its strategy, he said.

VeriSign, which has been planning to divest its noncore operations, still intends to do so. Bidzos said during the call that while the divestiture process is not facing "the best market conditions in the world," VeriSign expects to be "substantially on track" by the end of the year with its plans.

In a client note late Thursday, Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar, who rates the stock "Neutral," said Roper's resignation may indicate VeriSign's plan to divest its noncore operations "is struggling."

Friar added that the recent departures of Chief Financial Officer Bert Clement and Corporate Controller Debbie Tuck may add "headwinds to the divestiture process" and increase "day-to-day execution risks" for VeriSign.