Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
YOU is the NYSE ticker for Clear Secure, the company behind the CLEAR+ biometric airport lanes, TSA PreCheck enrollment at more than 40 airports, and the CLEAR1 identity platform sold to businesses and government agencies. Shares trade like any ordinary US common stock, and the operating question is whether paid CLEAR+ membership keeps compounding while free facial recognition spreads through the standard security line.
YOU stock price
As of 2026-08-27, Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU) last closed at $44.13, up 19.7% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $29.61 and $62.36.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Clear Secure, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU) do?
Clear Secure runs CLEAR, a biometric identity network best known to travelers as the CLEAR+ lane. Members pay an annual fee (raised by $10 to about $219 on July 1, 2026) to verify their identity by face at an EnVe pod or eGate and skip the document check at airport security. Alongside that consumer subscription, CLEAR is an accredited enrollment partner for TSA PreCheck at more than 40 airports, operates a Concierge service at 39 of them, and sells the same verification technology to enterprises and government agencies through CLEAR1. Roughly 3,300 employees support a network that has grown to about 43.5 million total members, of whom about 8.3 million are paying CLEAR+ subscribers.
Financially the business looks better than it did two years ago. Second-quarter 2026 revenue of about $277.8 million grew roughly 27 percent, total bookings of about $295.9 million grew roughly 33 percent, net income roughly doubled to about $50.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin of about 36 percent cleared the company's own 35 percent long-term target. Management raised 2026 free cash flow guidance to at least $480 million and sits on about $959 million of cash and marketable securities. What keeps the stock contested is the composition of growth: paid CLEAR+ members rose about 15 percent while the 30 percent headline includes free and enterprise identities, and TSA's own Touchless ID facial recognition is now live free of charge at roughly 65 airports. Shares traded near $51 in the days after the August print and slipped to about $44 by late August 2026.
What's driving Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)?
1. Paid CLEAR+ pricing and retention
Standard CLEAR+ went from $209 to $219 on July 1, 2026, and management reported that early retention held up after the increase. Pricing power on a subscription with a customer acquisition payback of roughly 4.7 months compounds quickly, because each incremental dollar of price arrives with almost no added cost to serve. Whether the increase sticks through a full renewal cycle is the thing to watch, since the 2023 and 2024 attrition that management has openly discussed started with a degraded experience rather than with price.
2. TSA PreCheck enrollment as a funnel
CLEAR enrolls travelers into TSA PreCheck at more than 40 airports and bundles both products for about $219 in the first year. Enrollment brings people into CLEAR's identity graph who may never have paid for a lane, which is a large part of why total members grew about 30 percent while paying members grew about 15 percent. TSA approval to enroll travelers from 42 visa waiver countries widens that top of funnel beyond the domestic base.
3. CLEAR1 and enterprise verification
CLEAR1 sells reusable identity verification into healthcare, workforce, and government use cases, and management said net new customer signings rose more than 50 percent sequentially in the second quarter with the pipeline up a similar amount. New products branded Vertex, Apex, and Helix are aimed at synthetic identities and deepfakes, a problem that got harder to solve cheaply as generative tools improved. Enterprise revenue is still small next to CLEAR+, so this line matters mainly as evidence the network can earn money outside an airport.
4. Cash generation and returns to holders
Second-quarter free cash flow of about $189 million was a record, helped by prepaid annual memberships that put bookings ahead of recognized revenue. Clear Secure pays a quarterly dividend of about $0.15 per share, has paid special dividends in prior years, and had about $250 million left under its repurchase authorization at June 30, 2026, with roughly $22 million bought back early in the third quarter. A roughly $315 million accrued partnership payment to American Express lands in the third quarter and will push that single quarter's free cash flow negative.
What are the risks to Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)?
The most direct competitive threat costs travelers nothing: TSA's own Touchless ID facial recognition is live at roughly 65 airports, and every minute the standard PreCheck line saves is a minute CLEAR+ no longer sells. Two other private vendors are accredited to enroll travelers in PreCheck, so that channel is not exclusive either. Growth quality is a live debate, since active CLEAR+ members rose about 15 percent in the second quarter while the 30 percent headline counts free and enterprise identities, and at least one broker trimmed its price target during 2026 on member growth. Results stay tied to air travel volumes and to partner economics, including the roughly $315 million American Express payment accrued for the third quarter. Insider selling has been persistent, with a founder affiliate registering a 500,000 share sale in early August 2026, and short interest in the stock has run high in the past.
What is the Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU) forecast?
6 analysts publish price targets on YOU, averaging $61.33 against a $44.13 price as of August 2026, or +39.0%. The published targets run from $45.00 to $75.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 4 buy, 1 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 4 raises and 2 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.
Read the full YOU forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.
Is YOU a buy or a sell?
We give no verdict on Clear Secure, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.
The case for buying. Paid CLEAR+ pricing and retention. Standard CLEAR+ went from $209 to $219 on July 1, 2026, and management reported that early retention held up after the increase. The most optimistic published target, $75.00, assumes this works close to its best case.
The case against. The most direct competitive threat costs travelers nothing: TSA's own Touchless ID facial recognition is live at roughly 65 airports, and every minute the standard PreCheck line saves is a minute CLEAR+ no longer sells. The most pessimistic target, $45.00, is roughly what YOU is worth if this bites instead.
Read the full bull and bear case on YOU, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
How is Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU) valued? (approximate, August 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Clear Secure, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$1.00B
- Q2 2026 revenue: ~$277.8M, up ~26.6% year over year
- Q2 2026 net income / diluted EPS: ~$50.1M / ~$0.49, roughly double the year-ago quarter
- 2026 free cash flow guidance: at least ~$480M, raised from ~$465M
- Cash and marketable securities: ~$959M at June 30, 2026
- Market capitalization: ~$5.99B at ~$44 per share, about 6x trailing revenue
At roughly $6.0 billion of market value against about $1.00 billion of trailing revenue, the shares carry close to 6 times sales, or roughly 10 to 12 times guided 2026 free cash flow once the cash balance is netted against the price. Reported cash flow flatters the picture somewhat, because CLEAR+ memberships are prepaid annually and bookings therefore run ahead of recognized revenue. Multiples quoted from earnings week look richer than current ones: the stock changed hands near $51 in early August 2026 before drifting into the mid $40s, and a quarterly dividend of about $0.15 per share works out near a 1.4 percent yield at that lower price.
Which ETFs hold Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)?
If you want YOU exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.
| ETF | Name | % in YOU | Expense ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDVY | First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF | 1.1% | 0.58% |
Who competes with Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)?
Government programs that substitute for the paid lane
TSA PreCheck, CBP Global Entry, and TSA's free Touchless ID facial recognition are the closest things to a direct substitute. Touchless ID is now offered at roughly 65 airports at no cost, which compresses the time saving a traveler is being asked to pay CLEAR+ for. None of these programs sell a subscription, so the competition shows up as slower paid growth rather than as lost contracts.
Airport and government biometrics vendors
Idemia and Telos hold the other accredited TSA PreCheck enrollment contracts, and Idemia, NEC, Thales, SITA, and Amadeus (Vision-Box) supply the biometric gates and boarding systems airlines and airports buy directly. These firms sell hardware and software to the airport operator rather than a membership to the traveler, so they compete for the same throughput problem with a different business model and, in most cases, without a consumer brand.
Digital identity verification platforms
CLEAR1 runs into Socure, ID.me, Persona, Incode, Jumio, Prove, and Entrust (Onfido) when it sells reusable identity into healthcare, financial services, and government. Most of those companies are private and priced per verification, and several already hold the enterprise relationships CLEAR is trying to enter. What CLEAR brings that they do not is a base of tens of millions of members who have already been identity-proofed in person.
What stocks are similar to Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)?
Other names that sit close to YOU: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.
How to invest in Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)
There are three common ways to get YOU exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (SDVY), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so YOU sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where YOU fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)
Clear Secure is a cash-generative subscription business bolted onto one airport network, so the case for it turns on paid CLEAR+ growth and the enterprise platform rather than on the headline member count.
More on Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)
Whether YOU is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is YOU a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the YOU stock forecast.
For income investors, whether YOU pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does YOU pay a dividend? And to weigh YOU against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: YOU vs MSFT and YOU vs NVDA.
Wondering how YOU fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Clear Secure, Inc. with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how YOU fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
Why is the ticker just the word YOU, and what company is behind it?
+
The listed entity is Clear Secure, Inc., which trades on the NYSE under YOU. The symbol was chosen because the product verifies a person's identity using their own face, eyes, or fingerprints, so the pitch is that you are the credential. Searches for the ticker frequently surface unrelated results because the word is so common, which is one reason the company is usually referred to by its brand, CLEAR.
What does Clear Secure actually sell?
+
Three things sit under one identity network. CLEAR+ is a consumer subscription of about $219 a year for the biometric airport lane, TSA PreCheck enrollment is a fee-based service run at more than 40 airports on TSA's behalf, and CLEAR1 sells reusable identity verification to enterprises and government agencies. CLEAR+ still supplies the large majority of revenue.
Is membership actually growing?
+
Both numbers grew in the second quarter of 2026, but at very different rates. Total members reached about 43.5 million, up roughly 30 percent, while active paying CLEAR+ members reached about 8.3 million, up roughly 15 percent. Since the larger figure includes free and enterprise identities, revenue tracks the smaller one much more closely.
Does free TSA facial recognition make CLEAR unnecessary?
+
It narrows the gap without closing it. Touchless ID handles the identity check at the podium for PreCheck travelers at roughly 65 airports, whereas CLEAR+ moves a member to the front of the line and, at eGates covering more than 70 percent of CLEAR's network, completes verification in under five seconds. The commercial risk is real: the less time a standard line costs, the harder a $219 subscription is to justify.
How profitable is the business now?
+
Second-quarter 2026 operating income was about $83.0 million on about $277.8 million of revenue, an operating margin near 30 percent, with adjusted EBITDA margin of about 36.4 percent and net income of about $50.1 million. Direct salaries and benefits fell to about 17.3 percent of revenue, an improvement of roughly 450 basis points, which is where most of the margin expansion came from. Free cash flow of about $189 million in the quarter benefits from annual prepayment of memberships.
What would most change the picture from here?
+
Four things carry the most weight: whether paid CLEAR+ retention survives a full renewal cycle at the new $219 price, whether CLEAR1 converts its growing pipeline into revenue large enough to matter, how quickly TSA extends free facial recognition beyond the current airport count, and how air travel volumes hold up. Cash flow timing is also worth reading carefully, because the roughly $315 million American Express payment accrued for the third quarter makes that quarter look far worse than the full-year guidance implies.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Clear Secure, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.