CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) reported fiscal third-quarter revenue growth of 27.8% and raised its full-year free cash flow forecast as its airport membership business expanded and demand grew for its identity verification products outside travel.
Revenue rose to $292.9 million, while bookings increased 24.4% to $323.5 million. Operating income was $82.9 million, and adjusted EBITDA reached $103.9 million, representing a 35.5% margin, nearly five percentage points higher than a year earlier.
Chief Financial Officer Jen Hsu said the company now expects at least $490 million in free cash flow for fiscal 2026, up from its previous forecast of at least $480 million. The new target would represent growth of at least 42.8% year over year.
Travel Membership and Pricing
Active CLEAR+ members grew 14.5% year over year to 8.5 million. Total members across the platform increased 30.7% to 46.7 million.
Founder, Chair and CEO Caryn Seidman Becker said improvements to the airport experience are supporting enrollments, average revenue per user and retention. More than 96% of travelers moved through CLEAR lanes in less than five minutes, she said. The company welcomed Tampa Airport to its network during the week of the call.
CLEAR is also expanding services around the airport checkpoint. Its app now adapts to a member’s trip, offering features such as ride booking, lane information and gate walk times. Coffee ordering is available at 56 storefronts across 13 airports, Seidman Becker said.
Hsu said the company sees several potential pricing levers, including measured annual increases to standard prices, adjustments to discounted rates for certain groups and new packages. Management is exploring whether services such as CLEAR Concierge, currently sold on an à la carte basis, could be included in premium bundles.
“We are learning our way into different methods of pricing, whether that be a la carte or premium or bundled packages,” Hsu said.
Asked about sustainable CLEAR+ growth following an earlier TSA-related surge, Hsu did not provide a specific long-term growth rate. She said retention and new-member acquisition were strong and pointed to opportunities in existing markets, network expansion and international growth.
CLEAR1 Demand and Government Partnerships
Management described the quarter as a milestone for CLEAR1, its identity verification business serving organizations outside its core airport membership offering. Hsu said third-quarter CLEAR1 bookings were close to three times their level in the same period a year earlier, although the company did not disclose a dollar amount.
CLEAR renewed and expanded a multiyear partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, building on its work providing sign-on services for medicare.gov. Hsu also cited a pilot with the Department of Veterans Affairs and said CLEAR added nine health systems during the quarter.
Hsu said the quarter was the company’s largest for partner expansions, measured by incremental annual recurring revenue from existing partners. Seidman Becker said CLEAR is integrated into almost 10% of U.S. healthcare systems, as well as electronic health record platforms.
Seidman Becker said the company has a larger CLEAR1 sales force and sees opportunities to sell additional services to existing customers as well as sign new ones. She also highlighted CrowdStrike’s integration of CLEAR’s verified identity into its Falcon platform.
Cash Flow, Repurchases and Outlook
Despite its increased full-year forecast, CLEAR reported negative third-quarter free cash flow of $103.8 million and $98.6 million in net cash used in operating activities. Hsu attributed the outflows to an approximately $315 million annual settlement of accrued partnership liabilities, primarily related to merchant credit card benefits.
Under a renewed agreement with its credit card partner, CLEAR expects to begin making quarterly payments on that liability in the first quarter of 2027. Hsu said the change should eliminate the large third-quarter outflow and make free cash flow more evenly distributed across quarters.
CLEAR ended the quarter with $633 million in cash and marketable securities. It repurchased 3.7 million shares for $171 million during the quarter, at an average price of $46.19 per share.
For the fourth quarter, CLEAR forecast revenue of $299 million to $302 million and bookings of $335 million to $340 million. At the midpoints, those ranges imply year-over-year growth of 24.8% and 17.6%, respectively. The bookings outlook excludes potential large CLEAR1 contracts because their timing is difficult to predict, Hsu said.
About CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU)
CLEAR Secure, Inc operates a secure identity platform that uses biometric and other identity-verification technologies to help people confirm who they are. Its services are designed to make access to locations and digital services more convenient while helping organizations verify identities.
The company is best known for CLEAR Plus, a membership service that lets enrolled travelers use dedicated lanes to verify their identity at participating airport security checkpoints. CLEAR also provides identity-verification services for organizations, including through its CLEAR1 platform, and offers services at participating sports and entertainment venues.
CLEAR’s roots date to the early 2010s, when the company relaunched the CLEAR airport identity service.
