DA Davidson Downgrades CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) to Hold

Key Points

• DA Davidson downgrade: DA Davidson cut CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) from "strong-buy" to "hold," while analyst opinions remain mixed but the MarketBeat consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $60 average price target.
• Strong Q1 and raised guidance: CLEAR reported Q1 revenue of $253.0M (+19.7% YoY) and EPS $0.38 (beat), cited member and bookings growth, and lifted Q2 revenue guidance and full-year free cash flow guidance to at least $465M.
• Insider selling and stock reaction: Insiders sold roughly 97,488 shares (~$4.58M) last quarter, and the stock traded down about 4.6% to $58.11 amid the mixed analyst notes; market cap is roughly $7.75B.

CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at DA Davidson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on YOU. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of CLEAR Secure in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CLEAR Secure from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on CLEAR Secure from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of CLEAR Secure in a report on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on CLEAR Secure from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CLEAR Secure presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

CLEAR Secure Trading Down 4.6%

YOU stock opened at $58.11 on Wednesday. CLEAR Secure has a 1-year low of $23.88 and a 1-year high of $61.68. The firm has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.86 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $50.71 and its 200-day moving average is $40.19.

CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.03. CLEAR Secure had a return on equity of 68.98% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company had revenue of $253.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CLEAR Secure will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CLEAR Secure

In other CLEAR Secure news, CAO Dennis W. Liu sold 7,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.57, for a total transaction of $386,131.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $532,327.20. This represents a 42.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lynn Haaland sold 15,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $698,985.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 97,488 shares of company stock worth $4,579,078 in the last quarter. 39.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in CLEAR Secure by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,257 shares of the company's stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in CLEAR Secure by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,634 shares of the company's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in CLEAR Secure by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,744 shares of the company's stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in CLEAR Secure by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,814 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspen Investment Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of CLEAR Secure by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc now owns 10,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.80% of the company's stock.

Key CLEAR Secure News

Here are the key news stories impacting CLEAR Secure this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and stronger guidance — YOU reported Q1 revenue of $253.0M (+19.7% YoY), EPS $0.38 (beat), large bookings growth and raised Q2 revenue guidance to $268–271M and full-year free cash flow guidance to at least $465M. These operational and cash-flow beats support upside. PR Newswire: Q1 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Member and product traction — CLEAR reported 41.0M members (+31% YoY), growth in CLEAR+ active members, eGates rollout and record CLEAR1 bookings, reinforcing recurring revenue and unit economics improvements. Operational Details
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst buy-side upgrades — Needham raised its target to $70 (buy) and Telsey raised to $68 (outperform), both implying material upside versus the prior price and supporting bullish views. Needham Upgrade Telsey Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns — Board declared a $0.15 quarterly dividend (payable June 24) and the company returned ~$56.4M in Q1 via dividends, special dividend and modest repurchases, which can support investor demand. Dividend/Capital Return
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings / call coverage — Multiple transcripts and news summaries (Seeking Alpha, Yahoo, Zacks) provide details investors can use to model margins, bookings cadence and FCF sensitivity. Useful for deeper fundamental analysis but neutral on its own. Earnings Call Transcript Yahoo Earnings Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Contrarian sell-side view from Wells Fargo — Wells Fargo raised its target to $40 but kept an "underweight" rating; that target implies ~31% downside versus the recent price and likely contributed to selling pressure and increased volatility today. Wells Fargo Note

About CLEAR Secure

CLEAR Secure, Inc operates a biometric identity platform designed to expedite identity verification for air travelers and venue guests. The company’s core offering is the CLEAR membership service, which uses fingerprint and iris scans to confirm a member’s identity and provide access to dedicated security lanes at participating airports. Members link government-issued IDs and personal biometric data via the CLEAR app, enabling faster processing through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints and select event entrances.

Founded in 2010 by Caryn Seidman‐Becker and Ken Cornick, CLEAR is headquartered in New York City.

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