Identity verification company CLEAR Secure (NYSE: YOU) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 16.7% year on year to $240.8 million. Its GAAP profit of $0.31 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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CLEAR Secure (YOU) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $240.8 million vs analyst estimates of $235.7 million (16.7% year-on-year growth, 2.1% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0.31 vs analyst estimates of $0.31 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $79.87 million vs analyst estimates of $68.28 million (33.2% margin, 17% beat)
- Operating Margin: 22.4%, up from 16.5% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow was $187.4 million, up from -$53.47 million in the previous quarter
- Market Capitalization: $3.27 billion
Company Overview
Recognized by its signature blue lanes and biometric pods at airport checkpoints across America, CLEAR Secure (NYSE: YOU) provides biometric identity verification technology that allows subscribers to bypass regular security lines at airports and access secure experiences at various venues.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Over the last five years, CLEAR Secure grew its sales at an excellent 31.3% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth surpassed the average software company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within software, a half-decade historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. CLEAR Secure’s annualized revenue growth of 21.2% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results suggest healthy demand. 
This quarter, CLEAR Secure reported year-on-year revenue growth of 16.7%, and its $240.8 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.1%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 11.7% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its products and services will see some demand headwinds. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health.
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Customer Acquisition Efficiency
The customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback period measures the months a company needs to recoup the money spent on acquiring a new customer. This metric helps assess how quickly a business can break even on its sales and marketing investments.
CLEAR Secure is extremely efficient at acquiring new customers, and its CAC payback period checked in at 8.2 months this quarter. The company’s rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs indicates it has a highly differentiated product offering and a strong brand reputation. These dynamics give CLEAR Secure more resources to pursue new product initiatives while maintaining the flexibility to increase its sales and marketing investments.
Key Takeaways from CLEAR Secure’s Q4 Results
We were impressed by how significantly CLEAR Secure blew past analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 6.1% to $35.51 immediately after reporting.
Indeed, CLEAR Secure had a rock-solid quarterly earnings result, but is this stock a good investment here? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
