What Happened?
Shares of identity verification company CLEAR Secure (NYSE: YOU) jumped 23.4% in the morning session after it reported fourth-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's expectations for revenue and profitability.
The company posted revenue of $240.8 million, a 16.7% increase year-over-year, beating analyst estimates. Profitability was a key highlight, as adjusted EBITDA came in at $79.87 million, significantly ahead of the $68.28 million consensus. This strong performance was also reflected in improved margins, with the GAAP operating margin expanding to 22.4% from 16.5% in the same quarter last year. Furthermore, CLEAR Secure generated impressive free cash flow of $187.4 million, showcasing its strong financial health and operational efficiency.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
CLEAR Secure’s shares are quite volatile and have had 16 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for CLEAR Secure and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 2 months ago when the stock gained 4.7% on the news that investor attention turned to the annual CES 2026 technology conference in Las Vegas, with artificial intelligence emerging as a central theme.
Attention shifted to tech giants, whose CEOs would headline the event. This focus continued the AI-fuelled momentum that drove market gains the previous year. The rally had global reach, with an MSCI Asia Pacific Index surge being driven by heavyweight chip names like Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. The event reinforced investor confidence in the long-term demand for the booming AI and chipmaking trend, boosting shares of companies across the semiconductor and technology space.
CLEAR Secure is up 21.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $41.79 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of CLEAR Secure’s shares at the IPO in June 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $1,045.
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