Clear Secure Shares Surge 26% On Higher Revenue And Raised Cash Flow Guidance
Clear Secure raised its annual free cash flow minimum to $490 million and expanded its share repurchase program by $175 million.
Clear Secure, the identity-verification company behind CLEAR airport lanes, saw its shares soar 26.11% to $60.23 in Wednesday trading as of 9:44 a.m. ET, adding $1.3 billion in market value, after third-quarter revenue of $292.9 million rose 27.8%.
Profit up, cash flow negative
Operating income came to $82.9 million in the quarter. Membership reached 46.7 million at September 30, a 30.7% annual increase.
Quarterly free cash flow turned negative, held down by a $315 million liability settlement. Even so, the company now guides to free cash flow of at least $490 million for the year, up from $480 million, and added $175 million to its buyback capacity, according to its results release.
Looking to the final three months of the year, management projects $299 million to $302 million in revenue and $335 million to $340 million in bookings.
What CLEAR sells
CLEAR, as of December 31, 2025, had 38 million total members and 166 CLEAR+ lanes across 60 airports. CLEAR+ is an annual travel subscription costing $209 per member that gives access to dedicated airport security lanes. A business product, CLEAR1, lets partners in healthcare, workforce and government verify customers and employees, paying transaction fees and an annual platform fee.
A rally with room behind it
The shares were up about 36% this year as of Tuesday's close, against about 11% for the S&P 500, and had gained 15% over the prior month. Tuesday's close was still 23% below the highest close of the past year, set on May 26.
Wednesday's gain was on pace to be the biggest one-day rise since February 25, when the stock rose 39.0%. The board declared a $0.15 quarterly dividend payable December 24 to Class A holders of record on December 10.
Holders of record on December 10 will receive the $0.15 dividend on December 24.
Sources
- Clear Secure Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript — benzinga.com
- Clear Secure (YOU) Surpasses Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Clear Secure: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | 11alive.com — Associated Press
- 3 Stocks For Investors Watching Regulated Crypto Exchange And Custody Demand — Yahoo Finance
- CLEAR Announces Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results — prnewswire.com
- The company's filing (Clear Secure) — SEC filing
- Clear Secure — Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-09-30 (quarterly results) — SEC EDGAR
