YOU Stock: Is Clear Secure at Risk of AI Obsolescence?

Clear Secure [YOU] is an identity solutions company that enables seamless security check-ins for paid subscribers across 60 airports in the US.

Its business-to-business security offerings are used by partners such as T-Mobile [TMUS], Uber [UBER], Oracle-owned [ORCL] Oracle Health and Medicare [MCGS] insurance programmes for account opening, employee verification, KYC (Know Your Customer) assessments, customer check-in, fraud prevention and other biometric verification processes.

However, with the outlook on software companies turning increasingly bearish due to concerns about artificial intelligence’s (AI) advancing coding capabilities, Clear Secure’s business model is in question, despite it not being a pure-play software business. Indeed, on June 9, YOU stock fell 3.3% after Anthropic made its most advanced Claude Fable 5 AI model available to the public.

AI’s double-edged sword

AI developments have repeatedly triggered software sell-offs since early 2025, from DeepSeek’s low-cost large language models to Anthropic’s enterprise Claude Cowork. 

The SaaS-pocalypse effect may not be so grievous for Clear Secure, however.  

The company derives most of its revenue from CLEAR+, a travel subscription service that provides dedicated entry lanes at airport security checkpoints. Its moat against AI disruption lies in its physical infrastructure, brand reputation and established relationships with airports, airlines and government bodies such as the US’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

CEO and founder Caryn Seidman Becker described AI as an “accelerant” for Clear Secure’s identity solutions and a key driver of the company’s expansion beyond retail consumers into enterprise markets.

That opportunity is already translating into enterprise demand. In Q1 2026, Clear Secure reported a record number of multi-year contracts. Earlier in December, the company secured a deal with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to integrate its identity platform into Medicare systems, following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that identified “extraordinary levels” of insurance fraud involving fake identities.

“Organisations now realise that identity integrity is a key protective layer,” said CEO Becker at the Q1 earnings call.

For now, cybersecurity remains the most notable AI risk to Clear Secure, especially as the company processes sensitive information including biometric data, government-issued identification, health information, employee records and travel history, making it an attractive target for hackers.

Anthropic’s frontier AI model, Mythos, has already displayed capabilities of finding flaws in “every major operating system and web browser”. The risk is not theoretical. In 2025, Anthropic reported that a Chinese state-sponsored group manipulated Claude Code to attempt cyberattacks on roughly 30 tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturing companies and government agencies. 

Claude Fable 5, released publicly on June 9, uses the same underlying model but includes safeguards designed to restrict potentially harmful cybersecurity requests. 

Nevertheless, just days after it was released, US authorities raised security concerns, leading to Anthropic suspending access to all users.

Still, Fable 5’s release could accelerate the public launch of AI models as capable as Mythos. There is no guarantee that competitors’ models will implement guardrails, potentially increasing the frequency and sophistication of attacks against corporations such as Clear Secure, exposing it to financial, regulatory and reputational damage.

YOU stock surges 100% in one year

Over the past year, Clear Secure’s share price has nearly doubled from $24.95 to $50.25, as of June 12, supported by strong earnings growth and a share repurchase programme.

In comparison, the S&P North America Technology Software Index [SPGSTISO] slumped 15.65% while the Nasdaq CTA Cybersecurity Index [NQCYBR] rose 17% in the same period.

YOU stock is up 44.72% year-to-date. Clear Secure saw its best day of the year on February 25, when the stock surged nearly 39% after beating Q4 earnings expectations.

Its worst session came on March 27, when YOU fell 11.2% amid a global market sell-off driven by escalating tensions related to the Middle East war. YOU recovered to hit an all-time high of $62.73 on May 26.

Clear Secure sees revenue, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow growth

Clear Secure’s outperformance in the stock market can be attributed to its strong earnings growth. In 2025, Clear Secure’s revenue rose 16.9% year-on-year to $900.78m as paid CLEAR+ members increased by 6% year-on-year to over 7.6 million.

Full-year adjusted EBITDA was up 39.8% year-on-year to $262.18m, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 29%.

Net income fell 25.4% year-on-year to $168.15m due to the absence of a tax benefit of $158.65m realised a year ago.

Free cash flow increased by nearly 21% year-on-year to $343.1m.

The company followed up the strong performance into 2026, recording a 19.7% year-on-year increase in Q1 revenue to $253m and a 46.1% year-on-year jump in Q1 net income.

Clear Secure did not have any outstanding debt as of March 31, 2026.

Comparing Clear Secure [YOU], Telos [TLS] and Mitek Systems [MITK]

Source: Yahoo Finance, as of June 12 close

Clear Secure’s core market of expedited airport screening faces competition from government-run programmes. Telos Corporation and Mitek Systems are among the listed companies with partial overlap.

Telos is a cybersecurity firm that provides identity and biometric solutions, and risk and compliance software to the US government and organisations. The company is also a TSA PreCheck enrolment provider, like Clear Secure.

Mitek Systems creates digital identity verification and fraud prevention solutions. The company serves over 7,000 organisations globally. Mobile Check Deposit is its most popular product, used by US customers to deposit cheques remotely using smartphones.

YOU stock: The investment case

Bull case for Clear Secure: Established B2C airport business to support enterprise revenue growth

Clear Secure’s established expedited airport security check-in service continues to produce recurring revenue and cash flow growth. Complementary offerings such as CLEAR Concierge and five-second biometric entry systems such as eGates have been introduced to improve customer retention and increase average revenue per user. 

Meanwhile, rising cybersecurity risks and identity fraud are creating a new demand tailwind for the company’s enterprise identity solutions, which could help Clear Secure diversify away from its travel business.

Bear case for Clear Secure: Increased competition and data breach risk

Clear Secure’s airport service business depends heavily on its relationships with airlines, airports and the TSA. The company could face increased competition as the TSA expands the use of its own identity verification technologies and as airlines introduce competing solutions.

The company also remains highly exposed to air-travel demand. Government shutdowns, pandemics, wars and sharp increases in airfares could reduce passenger volumes and weaken demand for CLEAR+.

Any data breach would add another major risk by eroding customer trust and damaging Clear Secure’s reputation.

Conclusion

The risk of AI disruption to Clear Secure’s business cannot be ignored. Neither should it be overstated. Leading AI developers such as Anthropic have shown that frontier models are becoming increasingly capable of identifying software vulnerabilities, making a data breach Clear’s most immediate AI-related risk. Beyond cybersecurity, however, Clear Secure remains difficult to replicate. Its brand, customer trust and long-standing relationships provide a degree of protection that technology alone cannot easily overcome.