YOU | Q4 2024

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• Link to Shareholder Letter

• Link to 10-K

Overview

• Non-GAAP EPS of $0.90.

• Revenue of $206.3M (+20.7% Y/Y) beats by $4.09M.

Takeaways

Clear Secure (YOU) wrapped up 2024 on a high note, delivering 21% revenue growth and a 17% jump in total bookings for the fourth quarter. Strong membership growth, pricing adjustments, and better retention played a big role in the results, along with solid contributions from TSA PreCheck and CLEAR1, the company’s enterprise security platform.

Free cash flow for the year hit $284 million, up 42%, while Clear also shrank its share count through aggressive buybacks. Looking ahead, the company expects at least $310 million in free cash flow for 2025, even after factoring in additional tax expenses and continued investment in its EnVe rollout.

CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker made it clear that Clear Secure is all about making travel smoother and security stronger. CLEAR Plus now covers about 73% of U.S. airport volume, with 166 security lanes nationwide.

Thanks to the rollout of NextGen Identity, travelers are moving through Clear lanes faster than ever—half of members clear security in under two minutes, while 91% are through in under seven. The new EnVe (Enrollment and Verification) Pods have been a game-changer, making the process five times faster and significantly improving efficiency.

But Clear isn’t stopping there. The company sees eGates as the future of airport security—fully automated lanes that boost both security and convenience.

The big selling point is that Clear is willing to pay for them, meaning no cost to taxpayers. With growing interest in public-private partnerships in Washington, Seidman-Becker believes now is the perfect time to push for broader adoption.

Beyond travel, Clear is making moves in enterprise security. Its CLEAR1 platform (formerly known as CLEAR Verified) is gaining traction, offering businesses an easy way to verify identities and reduce fraud.

It’s already in use at Community Health Network, where 90% of employees have adopted it, leading to a 13% drop in annual password reset calls. The company is also expanding into biometric security, partnering with Okta to help businesses verify users beyond their devices.

With cyber threats constantly evolving, Seidman-Becker sees biometric authentication as a critical solution for secure workforce access.

On the membership side, CFO Ken Cornick highlighted that total enrollments hit 28.9 million by year-end, adding 2.5 million new members in Q4 alone. The company has since surpassed 30 million total members, while active CLEAR Plus memberships grew by 164,000 in the quarter.

Gross dollar retention held steady at 88.5%, dipping slightly due to fewer family plan sign-ups rather than increased cancellations. As the company shifts toward higher-value memberships, it’s phasing out deep-discount programs and focusing on boosting revenue per user (ARPU).

Financially, Clear is in a strong position. Operating margins topped 60%, while EBITDA margins were over 70%. The company closed the year with $613 million in cash after repurchasing 13.8 million shares, including a big block transaction from Delta.

Looking ahead, Clear expects Q1 revenue between $207 million and $209 million, with total bookings ranging from $202 million to $204 million.

There are also some leadership changes on the horizon. Ken Cornick is stepping back from operational roles but will stay on as an advisor. Michael Barkin is taking over as President, bringing deep financial and operational expertise, while Jen Hsu, formerly of Chewy, is stepping in as CFO.

As Clear heads into 2025, the company sees huge opportunities in both travel and enterprise security. The completion of the EnVe rollout, the continued expansion of TSA PreCheck, and the growing adoption of CLEAR1 all set the stage for more growth.

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