Why Clear Secure Stock Was Crushing it on Wednesday
Key Points
The identity security specialist flew above analyst estimates for its fourth quarter.
Travel is a popular acitivity these days, and Clear Secure is reaping the rewards.
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On Wednesday, Clear Secure (NYSE: YOU), known for its airport security systems, reported its final set of 2025 financial results to a clearly impressed market. On the back of revenue and earnings beats and encouraging revenue guidance, investors were trading the company's stock up by more than 37% in mid-session action.
Ready for takeoff
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Clear Secure's revenue was $240.8 million, up nearly 17% year over year. That was on the back of an almost 32% rise in the number of members of its foundational Clear security platform, to 38 million.
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The company's consolidated net income under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) fell precipitously, to $46.5 million ($0.31 per share), from the year-ago result of nearly $117 million. That, however, was distorted by a massive accounting gain from one-time, non-cash income tax benefit in 2024's final quarter.
The company's non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization figure provides a clearer picture of its actual performance -- and this metric rose to $79.9 million from $50.5 million over that one-year stretch.
Regardless, Clear Secure topped the analyst consensus estimates for both headline numbers. On average, pundits were expecting just under $236 million in revenue and a GAAP net profit of $0.28 per share.
A clear path for growth
Clear Secure also proffered selected first-quarter and full-year guidance for 2026. For the former period, it's modeling $242 million to $245 million in revenue, for 15% growth at the midpoint. That exceeds the analyst consensus of $237 million. For the full year, free cash flow is expected to be at least $440 million, for growth of 28% at the minimum. No profitability estimates were provided.
These are boom times for the travel industry; combined with heightened awareness of identity security, this makes for a fertile environment for Clear Secure's business. The market might have overreacted to a good, if not explosive, quarter; however, I feel the company has plenty of growth ahead.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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