Identity verification company CLEAR Secure (NYSE: YOU) reported Q3 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 15.5% year on year to $229.2 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.37 per share was 17.8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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CLEAR Secure (YOU) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $229.2 million vs analyst estimates of $224.8 million (15.5% year-on-year growth, 1.9% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.37 vs analyst estimates of $0.31 (17.8% beat)
- Adjusted Operating Income: $62.2 million vs analyst estimates of $42.65 million (27.1% margin, 45.8% beat)
- Operating Margin: 23%, up from 17.7% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow was -$53.47 million, down from $117.9 million in the previous quarter
- Customers: 7,683, up from 7,626 in the previous quarter
- Market Capitalization: $3.36 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
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Luckily, CLEAR Secure’s sales grew at an impressive 29.9% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. 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 23.2% 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 15.5%, and its $229.2 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.9%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 12.7% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection doesn't excite us and suggests its products and services will face some demand challenges. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health.
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Customer Base
CLEAR Secure reported 7,683 customers at the end of the quarter, a sequential increase of 57. That’s worse than what we’ve observed previously, but we wouldn’t put too much weight on one quarter given its healthy revenue trend over the last three years.
Key Takeaways from CLEAR Secure’s Q3 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 remained flat at $34.57 immediately after reporting.
CLEAR Secure put up rock-solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.
