CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) executives used the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call to highlight what CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker described as a “defining year,” pointing to accelerating bookings growth, record profitability, and expanding opportunities across both its consumer travel business and its enterprise identity offering, CLEAR1.
Management frames CLEAR as a “trusted standard” for identity
Seidman-Becker said CLEAR now operates “at the intersection of security and the experience economy,” with capabilities spanning physical and digital identity in “regulated consumer and enterprise environments.” She emphasized that identity security is at an inflection point, citing rising threats from fraud, deepfakes, and AI-driven attacks, and argued that CLEAR is positioned to be an “operating system for identity” across physical and digital use cases.
- Expanding the consumer “Home to Gate” travel experience, focused on helping members navigate travel with less friction.
- “Aggressively scaling” CLEAR1 to secure enterprises, including workforce and consumer/patient identity in healthcare.
Travel focus: Home-to-Gate features, eGates, and Concierge expansion
On the consumer side, Seidman-Becker and President Michael Z. Barkin said CLEAR is prioritizing improvements in the member experience as a driver of acquisition, conversion, retention, and brand strength. Seidman-Becker highlighted the company’s relaunched mobile app, which she said is designed to connect “traffic, the speedy CLEAR lane, and the walk to your gate” and allow travelers to personalize timing preferences. She also pointed to “Live Activities” functionality intended to guide travelers step-by-step during trips.
CLEAR also discussed scaling its CLEAR Concierge service, which Seidman-Becker said is available at “almost 30 airports,” where a CLEAR ambassador can meet travelers at the curb and accompany them through security to a lounge or gate.
Executives repeatedly referenced the company’s eGate rollout, describing it as a key driver of higher experience scores and operational leverage. In response to an analyst question about member additions at airports with eGates versus those without, management said ads were “strong across the network,” while noting eGates began rolling out in the second half of the year and many installations occurred late in the fourth quarter. The company said it is already seeing an “immediate impact” on NPS and lane experience scores, with expectations that retention benefits will build as the rollout matures.
CLEAR renews American Express partnership
Barkin said CLEAR renewed its partnership with American Express, continuing to offer CLEAR+ as an “embedded benefit” on American Express consumer, corporate, and small business Platinum cards and select other products. He characterized the renewal as multi-year and said it reflects the value of CLEAR+ for cardholders and the relationship built over the past six years.
On the Q&A portion of the call, management said the renewed agreement extends into a multi-year term, but did not disclose specific terms. The company also said the “structure” of the renewed agreement reflects the value both companies bring to the partnership.
CLEAR1 momentum: record quarter and healthcare traction
Seidman-Becker said CLEAR1 delivered a “record-breaking quarter,” which she framed as validation of CLEAR’s “principled, multilayered approach” to identity. A key focus discussed on the call was healthcare, including work tied to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Seidman-Becker said CMS is integrating CLEAR1 to modernize account creation and fraud prevention and described the initiative as building an “identity interoperability layer” aimed at reducing fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare.
When asked about why CLEAR is particularly suited to serve CMS, Seidman-Becker pointed to the company’s experience operating in regulated environments, its emphasis on privacy, security, and compliance, its trusted consumer brand, and a large embedded member base (which she described as “almost 40 million consumers or patients”). She said the contract is multi-year, but did not provide additional structural details.
Management also discussed broader enterprise demand. Seidman-Becker said the company is seeing pull from large companies, including the Fortune 100, seeking to address breaches, data exfiltration, and insider risk. She emphasized CLEAR1’s ability to integrate with existing workflows and systems, describing the product as verifying “the human behind the device.”
In healthcare, management cited Mount Sinai as an enterprise partner and described an expanding pipeline supported by network effects, including being part of Epic’s identity toolbox and CMS-related interoperability work. Seidman-Becker said CLEAR is signing more healthcare partners nationwide and is seeing cross-sell opportunities between workforce and patient use cases.
Financial results: accelerating bookings, margin expansion, and capital returns
CFO Jennifer Hsu said 2025 reflected “disciplined execution and structural improvement,” with fourth-quarter bookings accelerating “to north of 25% year-over-year growth,” the highest level since Q4 2023. Hsu also said adjusted EBITDA margins in the quarter were “well over 30%.”
For the fourth quarter, Hsu reported:
- Revenue: $240.8 million, up 16.7% year-over-year
- Total Bookings: $287.1 million, up 25.4%
- Operating income: $53.9 million
- Adjusted EBITDA: $79.9 million, a 33.2% margin
For fiscal 2025, the company reported:
- Revenue: $900.8 million, up 16.9%
- Total Bookings: $977.2 million, up 17.2%
- Operating income: $186.5 million
- Adjusted EBITDA: $262.2 million, a 29.1% margin
Hsu said adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 870 basis points year-over-year in Q4 and 4.8 percentage points for the full year, with “over 50% flow through.” She also noted cost of direct salaries and benefits improved to 19.3% of revenue in Q4, about 390 basis points better year-over-year, and said the company delivered sequential expense leverage in every quarter of 2025.
On cash generation, Hsu said CLEAR produced $372.5 million of net cash from operating activities and $29.3 million of capital expenditures, resulting in $343.1 million of free cash flow, which she said was “significantly ahead of guidance.” The company ended the year with $703 million of cash and marketable securities and said it expects to exit 2026 with over $1 billion in cash and no debt, prior to any capital returned to shareholders.
The company also highlighted shareholder returns, including a 20% increase to its regular quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share. Hsu said CLEAR repurchased 5.3 million shares for $126.3 million at an average price of $23.86 in 2025, reducing total shares outstanding by 3% to 133.2 million. The board authorized a $125 million increase to the repurchase program, bringing total remaining capacity to about $250 million.
Looking ahead, Hsu guided to full-year 2026 free cash flow of at least $440 million and said the company expects GAAP P&L taxes of 18% to 20%. For Q1, the company guided revenue of $242 million to $245 million and Total Bookings of $248 million to $253 million.
In closing remarks, Seidman-Becker said CLEAR enters 2026 “from a position of strength,” citing cash, talent, and momentum, and thanked the company’s team and airport ambassadors for delivering the Home-to-Gate experience.
About CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU)
CLEAR Secure, Inc operates a biometric identity platform designed to expedite identity verification for air travelers and venue guests. The company’s core offering is the CLEAR membership service, which uses fingerprint and iris scans to confirm a member’s identity and provide access to dedicated security lanes at participating airports. Members link government-issued IDs and personal biometric data via the CLEAR app, enabling faster processing through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints and select event entrances.
Founded in 2010 by Caryn Seidman‐Becker and Ken Cornick, CLEAR is headquartered in New York City.
