Clear Secure Raises 2026 Free Cash Flow Minimum to $490 Million

Clear Secure raised its minimum 2026 free cash flow forecast to $490 million and set fourth-quarter revenue guidance, as third-quarter revenue and bookings both rose year over year.

The new full-year floor, announced Nov. 4, is $10 million above the previous minimum of $480 million. Clear Secure had raised that threshold from $465 million in August.

The company expects fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $299 million to $302 million. The midpoint represents 24.8% growth from the same quarter a year earlier. It also forecast total bookings of $335 million to $340 million, with 17.6% growth at the midpoint.

Those forecast growth rates are below the third-quarter increases: revenue rose 27.8% and bookings climbed 24.4% in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Revenue for that quarter was $292.9 million, while total bookings reached $323.5 million.

Clear Secure’s bookings measure combines revenue with the change in deferred revenue. It includes sales to new and renewing CLEAR+ subscribers and accrued billings to partners.

Free cash flow was negative $103.8 million in the third quarter, and net cash used in operating activities totaled $98.6 million. Clear Secure linked both figures to an approximately $315 million settlement of accrued partnership liabilities.

Clear Secure calculates this non-GAAP measure by adjusting operating cash flow for property and equipment purchases. Substantially all of Clear Secure’s revenue comes from CLEAR+, its consumer aviation subscription service. Its CLEAR1 service provides business-to-business identity verification for health care, workforce and government uses.