Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help readers understand our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed below.

For purposes of this MD&A, the term “we” and other forms thereof refer to Clear Secure, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), which includes Alclear Holdings, LLC (“Alclear”).

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws regarding, among other things, our or management’s intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of future events, which are considered forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These statements often include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” or similar expressions. These statements are based upon assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry, as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors that we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. As you read this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described under the heading “Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors,” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

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Our forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We expressly disclaim any intent, obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The discussion in this MD&A is generally related to 2024 and 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023. Discussions of 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

Overview

CLEAR is a secure identity company making experiences safer and easier - both digitally and physically. We make everyday experiences frictionless by connecting your identity to all the things that make you, YOU - transforming the way you live, work, and travel. CLEAR has been delivering secure, frictionless experiences in airports for over 15 years, achieving exceptional user delight and trust with CLEAR Plus, our consumer aviation subscription service. CLEAR Plus enables access to predictable and fast experiences through dedicated entry lanes in airport security checkpoints nationwide. As we continue to innovate on the travel experience, we are proud to offer TSA PreCheck® Enrollment Provided by CLEAR – offering consumers increased choice in how and where to sign up for this popular trusted traveler program. Our free flagship CLEAR app offers several consumer products, including: Home to Gate, a feature to help travelers plan and time their trip to the airport; CLEAR Mobile, which delivers predictable airport security for travelers by accessing a dedicated lane at airport security, simply by showing a QR code, that is free to CLEAR Plus Members and available to all travelers by purchasing a day pass; Ambassador Assist, our curb-to-gate service where our Ambassadors guide Members through the airport; and CLEAR Perks, our suite of benefits to help CLEAR Plus Members win every step of their travel journey. CLEAR1 (formerly CLEAR Verified), our business to business (“B2B”) offering, is our secure identity platform that maximizes security and minimizes friction for partners and consumers. CLEAR1 enables our partners to leverage our digital identity technology and embedded Member base to facilitate secure and frictionless experiences digitally and physically via our software development kits and application programming interfaces.

Key Factors Affecting Performance

We believe that our current and future financial growth are dependent upon many factors, including the key factors affecting performance described below.

Ability to Grow Total Cumulative Enrollments

We are focused on growing Total Cumulative Enrollments and the number of Members that engage with our platform. Our operating results and growth opportunities depend, in part, on our ability to attract new Members, including paying Members (CLEAR Plus Members) as well as new platform Members. We rely on multiple channels to attract new CLEAR Plus Members, including in-airport (our largest channel) which in turn is dependent on the ongoing ability of our Ambassadors to successfully engage with the traveling public. We also rely on numerous digital channels such as paid search and partnerships. We also entered into strategic distribution partnerships with partners such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and American Express that promote our services to their customers on a discounted or subsidized basis which allows us to efficiently scale membership in CLEAR Plus. In many cases, we offer limited time free trials to new Members who may convert to paying Members upon the completion of their trial. Our future success is dependent on those channels continuing to drive new Members and our ability to convert free trial Members into paying Members.

We believe we will see an acceleration of Total Cumulative Platform Uses relative to Total Cumulative Enrollments over time as our Members use our products across multiple locations and use cases. We believe this dynamic will grow the long-term economic value of our platform by increasing total engagement, expanding our margins and maximizing our revenue. Our future success is dependent upon maintaining and growing our partnerships as well as ensuring our platform remains compelling to Members.

Although we have historically grown the number of new Members over time and successfully converted some free trial Members to paying Members, our future success is dependent upon our ongoing ability to do so.

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Ability to retain CLEAR Plus Members

Our ability to execute on our growth strategy is focused, in part, on our ability to retain our existing CLEAR Plus Members. Frequency and recency of usage are the leading indicators of retention, and we must continue to provide frictionless and predictable experiences that our Members will use in their daily lives. We are subject to various factors which may be out of our control and may impact our Member experience, such as checkpoint staffing generally, checkpoint queue configurations and Registered Traveler policies adopted by TSA. For example, the TSA employs varied randomization as part of their normal security processes. If the TSA materially increases randomized reverification rates for CLEAR Plus Members at the checkpoint or makes other adjustments to checkpoint processes, it may negatively impact the Lane experience and therefore may impact our ability to retain CLEAR Plus Members.

The value of the CLEAR platform to our Members increases as we add more use cases and partnerships, which in turn drives more frequent usage and strong retention. We cannot be sure that we will be successful in retaining our Members due to any number of factors such as our inability to successfully implement a new product, adoption of our technology, harm to our brand or other factors. If our efforts to develop and offer more benefits are not valued by our current and future CLEAR Plus Members, our ability to attract and retain CLEAR Plus Members, or increase pricing, may be negatively impacted.

Ability to add new partners, retain existing partners and generate new revenue streams

Our partners include local airport authorities, airlines and other businesses. Our future success depends on maintaining those relationships, adding new relationships and maintaining favorable business terms. In addition, our growth strategy relies on creating new revenue streams such as per partner, per Member or per use transaction fees. Although we believe our service provides significant value to our partners, our success depends on creating mutually beneficial partnership agreements. We are focused on innovating both our product and our platform to improve our Members’ experience, improve safety and security and introduce new use cases. We intend to accelerate our pace of innovation to add more features and use cases, to ultimately deliver greater value to our Members and partners. In the near term, we believe that growing our Member base facilitates our ability to add new partnerships and provide additional offerings, which we expect will lead to revenue generation opportunities in the long term.

Timing of new partner, product and location launches

Our financial performance is dependent in part on new partner, product and location launches. In many cases, we cannot predict the exact timing of those launches. Delays, resulting either from internal or external factors, may have a material effect on our financial results.

Timing of expenses; Discretionary investments

Although many of our expenses occur in a predictable fashion, certain expenses may fluctuate from period to period due to timing.

In addition, management may make discretionary investments when it sees an opportunity to accelerate growth, add a new partner or acquire talent, among other reasons. This may lead to volatility or unpredictability in our expense base and in our profitability.

Maintaining strong unit economics

Our business model is powered by network effects and has historically been characterized by efficient Member acquisition and high Member retention rates. While we believe our unit economics will remain attractive, this is dependent on our ability to add new Members efficiently and maintain our historically strong retention rates. As we grow our market penetration, the cost to acquire new Members could increase and the experience we deliver to Members could degrade, causing lower retention rates. For our definitions of “Lifetime Value” and “Customer Acquisition Cost” and information about how we calculate these metrics, see the section titled “Business—Our Member Acquisition and Retention Strategy” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes to the macro and regulatory environment

Our business is dependent on macroeconomic and other events outside of our control, such as decreased levels of travel or attendance at events, changes in government policy and regulation, terrorism, civil unrest, political instability, union and other transit related strikes and other general economic conditions. We are also subject to changes in discretionary consumer spending.

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Taxation and Expenses

We are subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income of Alclear and will be taxed at the prevailing corporate tax rates. Alclear is treated as a flow-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, has generally not been subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level.

In addition to tax expense, we incur expenses related to our operations, plus payments under the tax receivable agreement (“TRA”) described below, which we expect to be significant. We intend to cause Alclear to make distributions in an amount sufficient to allow us to pay our tax obligations and operating expenses, including distributions to fund any ordinary course payments under the TRA.

We have and we expect to continue to incur increased amounts of compensation expense, including related to equity awards granted under the 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan to both existing employees and newly-hired employees, and grants in connection with new hires could be significant.

Tax Receivable Agreement

The Company maintains a TRA with the Alclear Members that provides for the payment by us to the Alclear Members of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) as a result of (i) any increase in tax basis in Alclear’s assets resulting from (a) exchanges by the Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) of Alclear Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class C Common Stock or Class D Common Stock, as applicable) for shares of our Class A common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class A Common Stock”) or Class B common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class B Common Stock”) as applicable, and purchases of Alclear Units and corresponding shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (“Class C Common Stock”) or Class D common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class D Common Stock” and, together with the Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock and Class C Common Stock, collectively, “Common Stock”), as the case may be, from Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) or (b) payments under the TRA, and (ii) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed arising as a result of payments made under the TRA.

The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under these agreements, varies depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges by or purchases from the Alclear Members, the price of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of the taxable income we generate in the future and the tax rate then applicable and the portion of our payments under the TRA constituting imputed interest.

The Company recognized the cumulative impact of exchanges that occurred through December 31, 2024. As of December 31, 2024, the Company recorded a TRA liability of $196.8 million as a result of these exchanges.

Acquisitions

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company made a strategic acquisition of certain assets of Sora ID, Inc., a one-click know your customer (“KYC”) solution which provides technology that is KYC compliant, and is transferable across financial institutions – creating a unique, reusable verification product.

Revenues and operating income (loss) related to these acquisitions for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were insignificant to the consolidated financial statements for all periods presented. See Note 3 within the consolidated financial statements included in this document for more information on acquisitions.

Key Performance Indicators

To evaluate performance of the business, we utilize a variety of other non-GAAP financial reporting and performance measures. These key measures include Total Bookings, Total Cumulative Enrollments, Total Cumulative Platform Uses, Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention, Annual CLEAR Plus Gross Dollar Retention, Active CLEAR Plus Members, and Annual CLEAR Plus Member Usage.

Total Bookings

Total Bookings represent our total revenue plus the change in deferred revenue during the period. Total Bookings in any particular period reflect sales to new and renewing CLEAR Plus subscribers plus any accrued billings to partners.

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Management believes that Total Bookings is an important measure of the current health and growth of the business and views it as a leading indicator.

Total Bookings increased by $122.2 million, or 17%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase was primarily driven by growth in Active CLEAR Plus Members combined with price increases.

Total Cumulative Enrollments

We define Total Cumulative Enrollments as the number of enrollments since inception as of the end of the period. An Enrollment is defined as any Member who has registered for the CLEAR platform since inception and has a profile (including limited time free trials regardless of conversion to paid membership) net of duplicate and/or purged accounts. This includes CLEAR Plus Members who have completed enrollment with CLEAR and have ever activated a payment method, plus associated family accounts. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the efficacy of our growth and marketing initiatives as new Members are potentially a current and leading indicator of revenues.

Total Cumulative Enrollments were 28,906 as of December 31, 2024 and 20,194 as of December 31, 2023, which represented a 43% increase. The year-over-year increase was driven by CLEAR1 and CLEAR Plus Member enrollments.

Total Cumulative Platform Uses

We define Total Cumulative Platform Uses as the number of individual engagements across CLEAR use cases, including CLEAR Plus, our flagship app and CLEAR1, since inception as of the end of the period. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our Member base which can be a leading indicator of future growth, retention and revenue.

Total Cumulative Platform Uses was 234,821 as of December 31, 2024 and 180,807 as of December 31, 2023, which represented a 30% increase, driven by Active CLEAR Plus Member verifications combined with increased contributions from CLEAR1 uses.

Active CLEAR Plus Members

We define Active CLEAR Plus Members as the number of members with an active CLEAR Plus subscription as of the end of the period. This includes CLEAR Plus members who have an activated payment method, plus associated family accounts and is inclusive of members who are in a limited time free trial or in a billing grace period after a billing failure during which time we attempt to collect payment; we exclude duplicate and/or purged accounts. Management views this as an important tool to measure the growth of its CLEAR Plus product.

Active CLEAR Plus Members was 7,315 as of December 31, 2024 and 6,720 as of December 31, 2023, which represented a 9% increase, driven by new Active CLEAR Plus Members added through airport, partner and organic channels in existing and new airports.

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Annual CLEAR Plus Gross Dollar Retention

We define Annual CLEAR Plus Gross Dollar Retention as the net bookings collected from a Fixed Cohort of Members during the Current Period as a percentage of the net bookings collected from the same Fixed Cohort during the Prior Period. The Current Period is the 12-month period ending on the reporting date, the Prior Period is the 12-month period ending on the reporting date one year earlier. The Fixed Cohort is defined as all Active CLEAR Plus Members as of the last day of the Prior Period who have activated a payment method for our in-airport CLEAR Plus service, including their registered family plan Members. Bookings received from a third party as part of a partnership agreement are excluded from both periods. Active CLEAR Plus Members, including those on a free or discounted plan, or who receive a full statement credit, only impact Annual CLEAR Plus Gross Dollar Retention to the extent that they are paying anything out-of-pocket on behalf of themselves or a registered family plan Member. Management views this metric to be reflective of our business objective of optimizing revenue.

Annual CLEAR Plus Gross Dollar Retention was 88.5% as of December 31, 2024 and 89.3% as of December 31, 2023, a year-over-year decrease of 90 basis points. The year-over-year change was driven by a decrease in Member retention and a lower number of Family Members added to existing accounts partially offset by price increases.

Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention

We define Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention as one minus the CLEAR Plus net Member churn on a rolling 12 month basis. We define “CLEAR Plus net Member churn” as total cancellations net of winbacks in the trailing 12 month period divided by the average Active CLEAR Plus Members as of the beginning of each month within the same 12 month period. Winbacks are defined as reactivated Members who have been cancelled for at least 60 days. Management historically viewed this metric as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our Member base.

Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention was 81.4% as of December 31, 2024 and 86.3% as of December 31, 2023, a year-over-year decrease of 490 basis points. The decrease was primarily driven by a reduction in the winback rate and to a lesser extent from various price increases.

Annual CLEAR Plus Member Usage

We define Annual CLEAR Plus Member Usage as the total number of unique CLEAR Plus airport verifications in the 365 days prior to the end of the period divided by Active CLEAR Plus Members as of the end of the period who have been enrolled for at least 365 days. The numerator includes only verifications of the population in the denominator. Management views this as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our Active CLEAR Plus Member base.

Annual Usage was 7.1x as of December 31, 2024 and 8.1x as of as of December 31, 2023, which represented a 12% decrease. The decrease was driven by both lower utilization for newer Members and decreased in utilization for existing Members.

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results as determined in accordance with GAAP, we disclose Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Free Cash Flow, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Basic and Diluted as non-GAAP financial measures that management believes provide useful information to investors. These measures are not financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for net income, net cash provided by (used in) operating activities or any other operating performance measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure reported by other companies. Our Non-GAAP financial measures are expressed in thousands.

We periodically reassess the components of our Non-GAAP adjustments for changes in how we evaluate our performance and changes in how we make financial and operational decisions to ensure the adjustments remain relevant and meaningful.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income adjusted for income taxes, interest income, net, depreciation and amortization, impairment and losses on asset disposals, equity-based compensation expense, mark to market of warrant liabilities, net other income (expense) excluding sublease rental income, acquisition-related costs and changes in fair value of contingent consideration. Adjusted EBITDA is an important financial measure used by management and our board of directors (“Board”) to evaluate business performance. We believe Adjusted EBITDA assists investors in evaluating the performance of the Company’s core operations by excluding certain items that impact the comparability of results from period to period.

Adjusted Net Income

We define Adjusted Net Income as net income (loss) attributable to Clear Secure, Inc. adjusted for the net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests, equity-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, acquisition-related costs, changes in fair value of contingent consideration and the income tax effect of these adjustments, using an effective tax rate. We historically believed these adjustments assist investors in evaluating the performance of the Company’s core operations assuming the exchange of all vested and outstanding common units in Alclear. Adjusted Net Income is used in the calculation of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share as defined below.

Adjusted Net Income per Common Share

We compute Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Basic as Adjusted Net Income divided by Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding for our Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, Class C Common Stock and Class D Common Stock assuming the exchange of all vested and outstanding common units in Alclear at the end of each period presented. We do not present Adjusted Net Income per Common Share for shares of our Class B Common Stock although they are participating securities based on the assumed conversion of those shares to our Class A Common Stock. We do not present Adjusted Net Income per Common Share on a dilutive basis for periods where we have Adjusted Net Income since we do not assume the conversion of any potentially dilutive equity instruments as the result would be anti-dilutive. In periods where we have Adjusted Net Income, the Company also calculates Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Diluted based on the effect of potentially dilutive equity instruments for the periods presented using the treasury stock/if-converted method, as applicable.

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per Common Share exclude, to the extent applicable, the tax effected impact of non-cash expenses and other items that are not directly related to our core operations. These items are excluded because they are connected to the Company’s long term growth plan and not intended to increase short term revenue in a specific period. Historically, we believed these adjustments assist investors in evaluating the performance of the Company’s core operations assuming the exchange of all vested and outstanding common units in Alclear. Further, to the extent that other companies use similar methods in calculating non-GAAP measures, the provision of supplemental non-GAAP information can allow for a comparison of the Company’s relative performance against other companies that also report non-GAAP operating results.

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Free Cash Flow

We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities adjusted for purchases of property and equipment. We believe Free Cash Flow provides useful information to management and investors about the Company’s liquidity and cash flow trends. With regards to our CLEAR Plus subscription service, we generally collect cash from our Members upfront for annual subscriptions. As a result, when the business is growing Free Cash Flow can be a real time indicator of the current trajectory of the business.

See below for reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP measures.

Reconciliation of Net income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA

Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted Net Income

Calculation of Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding

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Calculation of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Basic

Calculation of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Diluted

Summary of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share:

Reconciliation of Net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

The Company derives substantially all of its revenue from subscriptions to its consumer aviation service, CLEAR Plus. The Company offers certain limited-time free trials, family pricing, and other beneficial pricing through several channels, including airline and credit card partnerships. Membership subscription revenue is presented net of taxes, refunds, and credit card chargebacks. Membership subscription revenue is also reduced by the Company’s funded portion of credit card benefits issued to Members through a partnership with a credit card company at the end of the contract period. The Company’s funded portion varies based on total number of Members for the contract year.

The Company generates additional revenue from TSA PreCheck® Enrollment Provided by CLEAR. The Company offers both online and in person enrollments and renewals across multiple locations, and plans to continue to launch additional locations on a rolling basis, subject to TSA approval. The Company recognizes the revenue from these services net of fees remitted to TSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. The Company recognizes these revenues on a per transaction basis upon completion of each enrollment or renewal.

The Company also generates revenue in relation to CLEAR1. While contract structure may vary by use case, these deals are typically multi-year agreements that drive revenue through transaction fees (charged per use or per user) in addition to an annual platform fee. In addition, they may also include one-time implementation fees, licensing fees or incremental transaction fees. Revenues from our partners, and the percentage of our total revenue from these partners, have historically been immaterial. Although platform Members may not contribute directly to our revenues, they are valuable to our platform as they indirectly contribute revenues and drive new partners to CLEAR.

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Operating Expenses

Cost of revenue share fee

The Company operates as a concessionaire in airports and shares a portion of the gross receipts generated from the Company’s Members with the host airports and airlines (“Revenue Share”). The Revenue Share fee is generally prepaid to the host airport in the period collected from the Member. The Revenue Share fee is capitalized and subsequently amortized to operating expense over each Member’s subscription period. Such prepayments are recorded in “Prepaid revenue share fee” in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Cost of revenue share fee also includes a fixed fee component which is expensed in the period incurred and certain overhead related expenses paid to the airports in relation to our Revenue Share arrangements.

Cost of direct salaries and benefits

Cost of direct salaries and benefits includes employee-related expenses and allocated overhead associated with our field Ambassadors and field managers directly assisting Members and their corresponding travel related costs. Employee-related costs recorded in direct salaries and benefits consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation and expenses under arrangements related to the use of certain space at airports.

Research and development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of employee related expenses, allocated overhead costs and costs for contractors related to the Company’s development of new products and services and improving existing products and services. Research and development costs are generally expensed as incurred, except for costs incurred in connection with the development of internal-use software that qualify for capitalization as described in our internal-use software policy. Employee related compensation costs consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of costs of general marketing and promotional activities, advertising fees used to drive subscriber acquisition, commissions, the production costs to create our advertisements, expenses related to employees who manage our sales and marketing efforts, as well as brand and allocated overhead costs.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses for the executive, finance, accounting, legal, and human resources functions. Employee-related expenses consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation. In addition, general and administrative expenses include non-personnel costs, such as legal, accounting and other professional fees, warrant expense, variable credit card fees, variable mobile enrollment costs, and all other supporting corporate expenses not allocated to other departments including overhead and acquisition-related costs.

Interest income, net

Interest income, net primarily consists of interest income from our investment holdings and discount accretion on our marketable securities partially offset by issuance costs on our revolving credit facility.

Other (expense) income, net

Other income (expense), net consists of certain non-recurring non-operating items including income recognized in relation to a minimum annual guarantee paid to us by a marketing partner and the establishment of the tax receivable agreement liability for exchanges of Alclear units which occurred when the related deferred tax assets required a valuation allowance.

Provision (benefit) for income taxes

The Company is the sole managing member of Alclear, which is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal and most applicable state and local income tax purposes. As a partnership, Alclear is not subject to U.S. federal and most state and local income taxes. Any taxable income or loss generated by Alclear is passed through to and included in the taxable income or loss of its members, including the Company, based on ownership interest. The Company is subject to U.S. federal income taxes, in addition to state and local income taxes with respect to its allocable share of any taxable income or

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loss of Alclear, as well as any stand-alone income or loss generated by the Company. The Company is also subject to income taxes in Israel, Argentina, and Mexico.

Summary and discussion of the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 (in millions):

Revenue

Revenue increased by $156.9 million, or 26%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was primarily due to 9% increase in the number of Active CLEAR Plus Members as of December 31, 2024 compared to December 31, 2023 and increases to the price of a CLEAR Plus membership compared to the price as of December 31, 2023. Approximately 28% and 30% of paying Active CLEAR Plus Members were on a family plan as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Cost of revenue share fee

Cost of revenue share fee increased by $19.5 million, or 22%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was driven primarily by an increase of $9.6 million, or a 39% increase, in fixed airport fees and $9.9 million, or a 15% increase, in Member fees. COVID-related concessions reduced Cost of revenue share fee by $2.3 million and $2.5 million in the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Cost of direct salaries and benefits

Cost of direct salaries and benefits expenses increased by $30.2 million, or 21%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was primarily due to increased employee compensation costs of $28.6 million caused by wage increases and higher average employee count.

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Research and development

Research and development expenses decreased by $1.0 million, or 1%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was primarily due to a $1.7 million decrease in non-cash impairment of certain assets, partially offset by a $1.0 million increase in technology costs.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $5.3 million, or 12%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was primarily driven by a $9.6 million increase in discretionary marketing expense, partially offset by a $4.1 million decrease in Ambassador commission expense resulting from changes to our compensation structure.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses decreased by $4.9 million, or 2%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was driven primarily by decreases of $12.3 million in employee compensation cost due to lower Founder PSU expenses along with $4.4 million in professional fees. Additionally in 2023, there was a $1.5 million lease impairment and a $1.0 million write-off of certain assets that did not reoccur in the current period. The decreases were partially offset by a $7.4 million increase in technology costs and $7.4 million of increased credit card fees due to higher Total Bookings during the period.

Other income (expense)

Interest income, net increased by $3.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was primarily driven by higher interest rates.

Other (expense) income, net decreased by $90.6 million, for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. This change was primarily due to establishing the TRA liability of $90.8 million.

Income tax benefit (expense)

Income tax benefit increased by $159.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was primarily due to the partial release of the valuation allowance and establishment of certain deferred tax assets.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our operations are financed primarily through cash flows from operating activities. As of December 31, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $66.9 million and marketable securities of $543 million.

Historically, our principal uses of cash and cash equivalents have included funding our operations, capital expenditures, repurchases of members’ equity and more recently, business combinations and investments that enhance our strategic positioning. We may also use our cash and cash equivalents to repurchase our Class A Common Stock, pay cash dividends (and distributions in respect thereof) and distribute to members for tax payments. We plan to finance our operations, future stock repurchases, cash dividends, and distributions (to the extent declared), and capital expenditures largely through cash generated from operations. We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, cash provided by operations and the availability of additional funds under our Credit Agreement (as defined below) will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months, including payment of dividends, potential stock repurchases, and known commitments and contingencies as discussed below. We expect that future capital expenditure will generally relate to building enhancements to the functionality of our current platform, equipment, leasehold improvements and expanding our operational footprint, and general corporate infrastructure.

On May 13, 2022, the Company's Board authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to which the Company may purchase up to $100 million of its Class A Common Stock. On each of November 8, 2023, March 21, 2024 and August 5, 2024, the Company announced that its Board authorized a $100 million increase to its existing Class A Common Stock share repurchase program, and in February 2025, the Company announced that its Board authorized an additional $200 million increase. Under the repurchase program, the Company may purchase shares of its Class A Common Stock on a discretionary basis from time to time through open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, or other means, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will be determined by management depending on a variety of factors, including stock price, trading volume, market conditions, and other general business considerations. The repurchase program has no expiration date and may be modified, suspended, or terminated at any time. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 13,795,655 shares for $272.9 million. The repurchased shares were retired. As of December 31, 2024 and February 21, 2025, $52.7 million and $232.6 million, remained available under the repurchase authorization.

During the first quarter of 2025, the Company used $20.1 million to repurchase and retire 871,316 shares of Class A Common Stock at an average price of $23.08.

On August 2, 2023, the Company announced that its Board adopted a dividend policy (the "Dividend Policy") of paying a quarterly cash dividend to holders of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. The amount of such quarterly dividends is subject to approval of the actual amount by the Board at the time of such dividend declaration. It is expected that the dividends will be funded by proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of the applicable record date, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company. The declaration of cash dividends in the future is subject to final determination each quarter by the Board based on a number of factors, including the Company’s results of operations, cash flows, financial position and capital requirements, as well as general business conditions, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions and other factors the Board deems relevant at the time it determines to declare such dividends.

On February 15, 2024, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, payable on March 5, 2024 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on February 26, 2024. The Company funded the dividend from proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of February 26, 2024, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company.

On March 21, 2024, the Company announced the declaration of a special cash dividend in the amount of $0.32 per share payable on April 8, 2024 to holders of record of the Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on April 1, 2024. The Company funded the payment of the special cash dividend with cash held by the Company following its receipt of a pro rata cash distribution made by Alclear to all of its members, including the Company, together with cash held by the Company following its receipt of tax distributions made by Alclear.

On May 7, 2024, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable on June 18, 2024 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on June 10, 2024. The Company funded the dividend from proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of June 10, 2024, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company.

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On August 2, 2024, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable on September 17, 2024 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on September 10, 2024. The Company funded the dividend from proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of September 10, 2024, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company.

On October 31, 2024, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, payable on December 17, 2024 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on December 10, 2024. The Company funded the dividend from proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of December 10, 2024, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company.

On February 21, 2025, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share and a special cash dividend of $0.27 per share, payable on March 18, 2025 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on March 10, 2025 (the “Record Date”). The Company will fund the quarterly dividend from proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of the Record Date, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company. The Company will fund the payment of the special cash dividend with cash held by the Company following its receipt of tax distributions made by Alclear.

To the extent that any of the dividends discussed above exceed the Company's current and accumulated earnings and profits, a portion of the dividend may be deemed a return of or a capital gain to the holders of our Class A Common Stock or Class B Common Stock, as applicable.

Refer to our risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Forward-Looking Statements" and in Part I. Item 1A. "Risk Factors" for further information.

Credit Agreement

On March 31, 2020, we entered into a credit agreement (as amended, restated or otherwise modified, the “Credit Agreement”) for a three-year $50 million revolving credit facility that expires on March 31, 2023. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement generally bear interest between 1.5% and 2.5% per year and also include interest based on the greater of the prime rate, London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or New York Federal Reserve Bank (“NYFRB”) rate, plus an applicable margin for specific interest periods. In April 2021, the Company increased the size of the revolving credit facility to $100 million, which matures three years from the date of the increase. The revolving credit facility includes a letter of credit sub-facility. In June 2023, the Company entered into a second amendment to the Credit Agreement to transition from LIBOR to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") as our benchmark interest rate and to extend the maturity date to June 28, 2026. In November 2024, the Company entered into Amendment No. 3 to the Credit Agreement to increase the letter of credit sublimit from $35 million to $50 million.

We have the option to repay any borrowings under the Credit Agreement without premium or penalty prior to maturity. In addition, the Credit Agreement contains certain other covenants (none of which relate to financial condition), events of default and other customary provisions. The Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative covenants, such as financial statement reporting requirements and delivery of borrowing base certificates, as well as customary covenants that restrict our ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, sell certain assets, guarantee obligations of third parties, declare dividends or make certain distributions, and undergo a merger or consolidation or certain other transactions.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had a remaining borrowing capacity of $66.4 million, net of standby letters of credit, and had no outstanding debt obligations. Additionally, the Company was in compliance with all of the financial and non-financial covenants of the Credit Agreement. Refer to Note 21 within the consolidated financial statements for further details.

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Cash Flow

The following summarizes our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 (in millions):

Cash flows from operating activities

For the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash provided by operating activities was $295.7 million compared to $225.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $70.6 million. This change was due to a year-over-year increase in net income of $175.4 million and favorable changes to working capital of $55.2 million, driven by the establishment of the tax receivable agreement liability, and offset by a decrease to non-cash adjustments to net income of $159.9 million driven by the release of the portion of the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets and current year tax benefits recorded, .

Cash flows from investing activities

For the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash provided by investing activities was $113.8 million compared to net cash used in investing activities of $15.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $129.3 million. The change was primarily due to an increase in the net sales of marketable securities of $106.7 million, a decrease in the purchase of a strategic investment of $5.0 million, decrease in business combinations of $3.8 million, and a decrease in capital expenditures of $13.5 million.

Cash flows from financing activities

For the year ended December 31, 2024, net cash used in financing activities was $401.5 million compared to $216.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $185.5 million. The change was due to increases in the amounts used to repurchase Class A Common Stock of $203.3 million, deferred consideration payments related to prior period acquisition of $1.3 million, and $2.2 million in payments of taxes on net settled stock-based awards offset by decreases in payments of special and regular dividends of $14.3 million and distributions to members of $6.5 million.

Commitments and Contingencies

We have non-cancelable operating lease arrangements for office space. As of December 31, 2024, we had future minimum payments of $192.3 million, with $15.0 million due within 12 months. See Note 8 within the consolidated financial statements for information related to our lease obligations.

We enter into agreements with airports for access to floor and office space. As of December 31, 2024, we had future minimum payments of $67.3 million. See Note 18 within the consolidated financial statements.

The Company has commitments for future marketing expenditures to sports stadiums of $3.5 million as of December 31, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company is subject to certain minimum spend commitments of approximately $13.6 million over the next three years under service arrangements.

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Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported periods. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has defined a company’s critical accounting policies as the ones that are most important to the portrayal of a company’s financial condition and results of operations, and which require a company to make its most difficult and subjective judgments. Based on this definition, we have identified the critical accounting policies and judgments addressed below. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Revenue recognition

The Company has derived substantially all of its historical revenue from subscriptions to its consumer aviation service, CLEAR Plus. The Company offers certain limited-time free trials, family pricing, and other beneficial pricing through several channels including airline and credit card partnerships. Membership subscription revenue is presented net of taxes, refunds, and credit card chargebacks. Membership subscription revenue is also reduced by the Company’s funded portion of credit card benefits issued to Members through a partnership with one credit card at the end of the contract period. The Company’s funded portion varies based on total number of Members enrolled each contract year.

Under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue Recognition, the Company recognizes revenue upon transfer of control of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for those products or services.

In determining how revenue should be recognized, the Company follows a five step process:

•Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;

•Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;

•Determination of the transaction price;

•Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

•Recognition of revenue when or as the Company satisfies the performance obligations.

Subscription revenues are invoiced to subscribers in annual installments for subscriptions to the platform. There are no significant financing components included in the Company’s contracts with subscription customers. Overall, payments received in advance of transfer of control are recorded within deferred revenue within the consolidated balance sheets.

The Company primarily recognizes revenue ratably from its consumer aviation subscription service, CLEAR Plus. This performance obligation is satisfied over time as the series of daily services, which are distinct from each other and the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits. The Company uses a time-based output measure and revenue is recognized over the period in which each of the performance obligations are satisfied, as services are rendered, which is generally over the arrangement term as all arrangements are for a period of less than 12 months.

The Company uses the practical expedient permitted to not adjust the transaction price of contracts with a duration of one year or less for the effects of a significant financing component at contract inception.

The Company has certain other revenue streams which are not significant to the Company’s operating results.

Income Taxes

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that

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includes the enactment date. Significant factors considered by us in estimating the probability of the realization of deferred tax assets include expectations of future earnings and taxable income, as well as application of tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A valuation allowance is provided when we determine that it is “more likely than not” that a portion of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. Our deferred tax positions may change if our estimates regarding future realization of deferred tax assets were to change.

A minimum probability threshold for a tax position must be met before a financial statement benefit is recognized. The tax benefit to be recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The tax benefits ultimately realized by us may differ from those recognized in our financial statements based on a number of factors, including our decision to settle rather than litigate a matter, relevant legal precedent related to similar matters and our success in supporting its filing positions with taxing authorities.

We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits on the income tax expense line in the consolidated statements of operations. Accrued interest and penalties are included in the related tax liability line in the consolidated balance sheet.

Tax Receivable Agreement

The Company entered into a TRA which generally provides for payment by the Company to the remaining members of Alclear, the “TRA Holders,” of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax and franchise tax that the Company actually realizes or is deemed to realize in certain circumstances. The Company will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these net cash savings. As of December 31, 2024, the Company has recognized the deferred tax asset of $231.7 million for the step-up in tax basis, as the asset is more-likely-than-not to be realized. Additionally, the Company has determined the TRA liability is probable and therefore has recorded a tax receivable liability of $196.8 million.

Business Combinations

Accounting for business combinations requires us to make significant estimates and assumptions with respect to the fair value of identifiable assets and liabilities acquired in a business combination, especially with respect to intangible assets.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies within the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this document, for recently issued accounting pronouncements and their expected impact on our consolidated financial statements.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help readers understand our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed below.

For purposes of this MD&A, the term “we” and other forms thereof refer to Clear Secure, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), which includes Alclear Holdings, LLC (“Alclear”).

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws regarding, among other things, our or management’s intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of future events, which are considered forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These statements often include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” or similar expressions. These statements are based upon assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry, as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors that we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. As you read this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described under the heading “Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors,” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

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Our forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We expressly disclaim any intent, obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The discussion in this MD&A is generally related to 2023 and 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022. Discussions of 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

Overview

CLEAR is an identity company making experiences safer and easier digitally and physically. We make everyday experiences frictionless by connecting your identity to all the things that make you, YOU - transforming the way you live, work, and travel. CLEAR has been delivering secure, friction-free experiences in airports for over 14 years, achieving exceptional user delight and trust with CLEAR Plus, our consumer aviation subscription service. CLEAR Plus enables access to predictable and fast experiences through dedicated entry lanes in airport security checkpoints nationwide. As we continue to innovate on the travel experience, we are proud to offer TSA PreCheck® Enrollment Provided by CLEAR –offering consumers increased choice in how and where to sign up for this popular trusted traveler program. Our free flagship CLEAR app offers consumer products like Home-to-Gate, which includes RESERVE Powered by CLEAR, our virtual queuing technology that enables customers to prebook a spot in the airport security line so they don’t have to wait. CLEAR Verified, our B2B offering, enables our partners to leverage our digital identity technology and reusable member network to facilitate secure and frictionless experiences digitally and physically via our SDKs and APIs.

Key Factors Affecting Performance

We believe that our current and future financial growth are dependent upon many factors, including the key factors affecting performance described below.

Ability to Grow Total Cumulative Enrollments

We are focused on growing Total Cumulative Enrollments and the number of Members that engage with our platform. Our operating results and growth opportunities depend, in part, on our ability to attract new Members, including paying Members (CLEAR Plus Members) as well as new platform Members. We rely on multiple channels to attract new CLEAR Plus Members, including in-airport (our largest channel) which in turn is dependent on the ongoing ability of our Ambassadors to successfully engage with the traveling public. We also rely on numerous digital channels such as paid search and partnerships. In many cases, we offer limited time free trials to new Members who may convert to paying Members upon the completion of their trial. Our future success is dependent on those channels continuing to drive new Members and our ability to convert free trial Members into paying Members.

We believe we will see an acceleration of Total Cumulative platform Uses relative to Total Cumulative Enrollments over time as our Members use our products across multiple locations and use cases. We believe this dynamic will grow the long-term economic value of our platform by increasing total engagement, expanding our margins and maximizing our revenue. Our future success is dependent upon maintaining and growing our partnerships as well as ensuring our platform remains compelling to Members.

Although we have historically grown the number of new Members over time and successfully converted some free trial Members to paying Members, our future success is dependent upon our ongoing ability to do so.

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Ability to retain CLEAR Plus Members

Our ability to execute on our growth strategy is focused, in part, on our ability to retain our existing CLEAR Plus Members. Frequency and recency of usage are the leading indicators of retention, and we must continue to provide frictionless and predictable experiences that our Members will use in their daily lives. We are subject to various factors which may be out of our control and may impact our Member experience, such as checkpoint staffing generally, checkpoint queue configurations and Registered Traveler policies adopted by TSA. For example, the TSA employs varied randomization as part of their normal security processes. If the TSA materially increases randomized reverification rates for CLEAR Plus Members at the checkpoint or makes other adjustments to checkpoint processes, it may negatively impact the Lane experience and therefore may impact our ability to retain CLEAR Plus Members.

The value of the CLEAR platform to our Members increases as we add more use cases and partnerships, which in turn drives more frequent usage and increases retention. Historically, CLEAR Plus Members who used CLEAR in both aviation and non-aviation venues renewed at rates materially above those who used CLEAR only in aviation. We cannot be sure that we will be successful in retaining our Members due to any number of factors such as our inability to successfully implement a new product, adoption of our technology, harm to our brand or other factors.

Ability to add new partners, retain existing partners and generate new revenue streams

Our partners include local airport authorities, airlines and other businesses. Our future success depends on maintaining those relationships, adding new relationships and maintaining favorable business terms. In addition, our growth strategy relies on creating new revenue streams such as per partner, per Member or per use transaction fees. Although we believe our service provides significant value to our partners, our success depends on creating mutually beneficial partnership agreements. We are focused on innovating both our product and our platform to improve our Members’ experience, improve safety and security and introduce new use cases. We intend to accelerate our pace of innovation to add more features and use cases, to ultimately deliver greater value to our Members and partners. In the near term, we believe that growing our Member base facilitates our ability to add new partnerships and provide additional offerings, which we expect will lead to revenue generation opportunities in the long term.

Timing of new partner, product and location launches

Our financial performance is dependent in part on new partner, product and location launches. In many cases, we cannot predict the exact timing of those launches. Delays, resulting either from internal or external factors, may have a material effect on our financial results.

Timing of expenses; Discretionary investments

Although many of our expenses occur in a predictable fashion, certain expenses may fluctuate from period to period due to timing.

In addition, management may make discretionary investments when it sees an opportunity to accelerate growth, add a new partner or acquire talent, among other reasons. This may lead to volatility or unpredictability in our expense base and in our profitability.

Maintaining strong unit economics

Our business model is powered by network effects and has historically been characterized by efficient Member acquisition and high Member retention rates. While we believe our unit economics will remain attractive, this is dependent on our ability to add new Members efficiently and maintain our historically strong retention rates. As we grow our market penetration, the cost to acquire new Members could increase and the experience we deliver to Members could degrade, causing lower retention rates. For our definitions of “Lifetime Value” and “Customer Acquisition Cost” and information about how we calculate these metrics, see the section titled “Business—Our Member Acquisition and Retention Strategy” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes to the macro environment

Our business is dependent on macroeconomic and other events outside of our control, such as decreased levels of travel or attendance at events, terrorism, civil unrest, political instability, union and other transit related strikes and other general economic conditions. We are also subject to changes in discretionary consumer spending.

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Taxation and Expenses

After the consummation of our IPO, we became subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income of Alclear and will be taxed at the prevailing corporate tax rates. Alclear, is treated as flow-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, has generally not been subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level. Accordingly, the historical results of operations and other financial information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K do not include any material provisions for U.S. federal income tax for the periods prior to our IPO.

In addition to tax expense, we incur expenses related to our operations, plus payments under the tax receivable agreement (“TRA”) described below, which we expect to be significant. We intend to cause Alclear to make distributions in an amount sufficient to allow us to pay our tax obligations and operating expenses, including distributions to fund any ordinary course payments under the TRA.

Following our IPO, we have and we expect to continue to incur increased amounts of compensation expense, including related to equity awards granted under the 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan to both existing employees and newly-hired employees, and grants in connection with new hires could be significant. In addition, as a new public company, we are implementing additional procedures and processes for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. We expect to incur additional expenses related to these steps and, among other things, additional directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees, reporting requirements of the SEC, transfer agent fees, hiring additional accounting, legal and administrative personnel, increased auditing and legal fees and similar expenses.

Tax Receivable Agreement

In connection with the IPO we entered into the TRA with the Alclear Members that provides for the payment by us to the Alclear Members of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) as a result of (i) any increase in tax basis in Alclear’s assets resulting from (a) exchanges by the Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) of Alclear Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class C Common Stock or Class D Common Stock, as applicable) for shares of our Class A common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class A Common Stock”) or Class B common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class B Common Stock”) as applicable, and purchases of Alclear Units and corresponding shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (“Class C Common Stock”) or Class D common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class D Common Stock” and, together with the Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock and Class C Common Stock, collectively, “Common Stock”), as the case may be, from Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) or (b) payments under the TRA, and (ii) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed arising as a result of payments made under the TRA.

The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under these agreements, varies depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges by or purchases from the Alclear Members, the price of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of the taxable income we generate in the future and the tax rate then applicable and the portion of our payments under the TRA constituting imputed interest.

Acquisitions

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company made a strategic acquisition of certain assets of Sora ID, Inc., a one-click know your customer (“KYC”) solution which provides technology that is KYC compliant, and is transferable across financial institutions – creating a unique, reusable verification product. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company acquired Whyline, Inc., our virtual queuing technology that enables customers to manage lines, and also acquired certain assets of Atlas Certified, LLC, our automated solution to verify professional licenses and certification data across industries.

Revenues and operating income (loss) related to these acquisitions for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 were insignificant to the consolidated financial statements for all periods presented. See Note 3 within the consolidated financial statements included in this document for more information on acquisitions.

Key Performance Indicators

To evaluate performance of the business, we utilize a variety of other non-GAAP financial reporting and performance measures. These key measures include Total Bookings, Total Cumulative Enrollments, Total Cumulative

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Platform Uses, Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention, Active CLEAR Plus Members, and Annual CLEAR Plus Member Usage.

Total Bookings

Total Bookings represent our total revenue plus the change in deferred revenue during the period. Total Bookings in any particular period reflect sales to new and renewing CLEAR Plus subscribers plus any accrued billings to partners. Management believes that Total Bookings is an important measure of the current health and growth of the business and views it as a leading indicator.

Total Bookings increased by $184.8 million, or 35%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase was primarily driven by new Member enrollments, pricing increases, and strong retention of existing Members.

Total Cumulative Enrollments

We define Total Cumulative Enrollments as the number of enrollments since inception as of the end of the period. An Enrollment is defined as any Member who has registered for the CLEAR platform since inception and has a profile (including limited time free trials regardless of conversion to paid membership) net of duplicate and/or purged accounts. This includes CLEAR Plus Members who have completed enrollment with CLEAR and have ever activated a payment method, plus associated family accounts. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the efficacy of our growth and marketing initiatives as new Members are potentially a current and leading indicator of revenues.

Total Cumulative Enrollments were 20,194 as of December 31, 2023 and 15,384 as of December 31, 2022, which represented a 31% increase. The year over year increase was driven by growth in CLEAR Plus enrollments, as well as increased contributions from CLEAR Verified.

Total Cumulative Platform Uses

We define Total Cumulative Platform Uses as the number of individual engagements across CLEAR use cases, including CLEAR Plus, our flagship app and CLEAR Verified, since inception as of the end of the period. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our Member base which can be a leading indicator of future growth, retention and revenue.

Total Cumulative Platform Uses was 180,807 as of December 31, 2023 and 129,617 as of December 31, 2022, which represented a 39% increase, driven by the continued strength in air travel leading to increases in CLEAR Plus verifications combined with an increased contributions from CLEAR Verified uses.

Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention

We define Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention as one minus the CLEAR Plus net Member churn on a rolling 12 month basis. We define “CLEAR Plus net Member churn” as total cancellations net of winbacks in the trailing 12 month period divided by the average Active CLEAR Plus Members as of the beginning of each month within the same 12 month period. Winbacks are defined as reactivated Members who have been cancelled for at least 60 days. Active CLEAR Plus Members are defined as Members who have completed enrollment with CLEAR and have activated a payment method for our in-airport CLEAR Plus service, including their registered family plan Members. Active CLEAR Plus Members also include those in a grace period of up to 45 days after a billing failure during which time we attempt to collect updated payment information. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the level of

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engagement of our Member base, which can be a leading indicator of future growth and revenue, as well as an indicator of customer satisfaction and long term business economics.

Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention was 86.3% as of December 31, 2023 and 91.9% as of December 31, 2022, a year-over-year decrease of 560 basis points. The decline was primarily driven by a normalization of winbacks, a larger pool of Members up for renewal year over year, and NextGen Identity+ upgrades, which we prioritized over our typical focus on reactivating Members in the lane. Excluding the impact of NextGen Identity+ upgrades we estimate Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention would have been 87.3%.

Active CLEAR Plus Members

We define Active CLEAR Plus Members as the number of Members with an active CLEAR Plus subscription as of the end of the period. This includes CLEAR Plus Members who have an activated payment method, plus associated family accounts and is inclusive of Members who are in a limited time free trial; it excludes duplicate and/or purged accounts. Management views this as an important tool to measure the growth of its CLEAR Plus product.

Active CLEAR Plus Members was 6,720 as of December 31, 2023 and 5,448 as of December 31, 2022, which represented a 23% increase, driven by new Members added through airport, partner and organic channels in existing and new airports.

Annual CLEAR Plus Member Usage

We define Annual CLEAR Plus Member Usage as the total number of unique CLEAR Plus airport verifications in the 365 days prior to the end of the period divided by Active CLEAR Plus Members as of the end of the period who have been enrolled for at least 365 days. The numerator includes only verifications of the population in the denominator. Management views this as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our active CLEAR Plus Member base.

Annual Usage was 8.1x as of December 31, 2023 and 8.6x as of as of December 31, 2022, which represented a 6% decrease.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results as determined in accordance with GAAP, we disclose Adjusted EBITDA (Loss), Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Free Cash Flow, Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share, Diluted as non-GAAP financial measures that management believes provide useful information to investors. These measures are not financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for net income (loss), or any other operating performance measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure reported by other companies. Our Non-GAAP financial measures are expressed in thousands.

We periodically reassess the components of our Non-GAAP adjustments for changes in how we evaluate our performance and changes in how we make financial and operational decisions to ensure the adjustments remain relevant and meaningful.

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Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) as net income (loss) adjusted for income taxes, interest (income) expense net, depreciation and amortization, impairment and losses on asset disposals, equity-based compensation expense, mark to market of warrant liabilities, net other income (expense) excluding sublease rental income, acquisition-related costs and changes in fair value of contingent consideration. Adjusted EBITDA is an important financial measure used by management and our board of directors (“Board”) to evaluate business performance. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, we revised our definition of Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) to exclude sublease rental income from our other income (expense) adjustment. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022, we revised our definition of Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) to include impairment on assets as a separate component. We did not revise prior years' Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) because there was no impact of a similar nature in the prior period that affects comparability. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is Adjusted EBITDA, divided by total revenues.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

We define Adjusted Net Income (Loss) as Net income (loss) attributable to Clear Secure, Inc. adjusted for the net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests, equity-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, acquisition-related costs, changes in fair value of contingent consideration and the income tax effect of these adjustments. Adjusted Net Income (Loss) is used in the calculation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share as defined below.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

We compute Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share, Basic as Adjusted Net Income (Loss) divided by Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding for our Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, Class C Common Stock and Class D Common Stock assuming the exchange of all vested and outstanding common units in Alclear at the end of each period presented. We do not present Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share for shares of our Class B Common Stock although they are participating securities based on the assumed conversion of those shares to our Class A Common Stock. We do not present Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share on a dilutive basis for periods where we have Adjusted Net Loss since we do not assume the conversion of any potentially dilutive equity instruments as the result would be anti-dilutive. In periods where we have Adjusted Net Income, the Company also calculates Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Diluted based on the effect of potentially dilutive equity instruments for the periods presented using the treasury stock/if-converted method, as applicable. Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share is only applicable for periods after June 29, 2021, post the reorganization transactions and IPO.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share exclude, to the extent applicable, exclude the tax effected impact of non-cash expenses and other items that are not directly related to our core operations. These items are excluded because they are connected to the Company’s long term growth plan and not intended to increase short term revenue in a specific period. Further, to the extent that other companies use similar methods in calculating non-GAAP measures, the provision of supplemental non-GAAP information can allow for a comparison of the company’s relative performance against other companies that also report non-GAAP operating results.

Free Cash Flow

We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities adjusted for purchases of property and equipment plus the value of share repurchases over fair value. With regards to our CLEAR Plus subscription service, we generally collect cash from our Members upfront for annual subscriptions. As a result, when the business is growing Free Cash Flow can be a real time indicator of the current trajectory of the business.

See below for reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP measures.

Reconciliation of Net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA (Loss)

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Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

* There was no income tax impact due to the fact that the Company’s effective tax rate was approximately 0% for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Calculation of Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding

Calculation of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Basic

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Calculation of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Diluted

Summary of Adjusted Net Income per Common Share:

Reconciliation of Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities to Free Cash Flow

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

The Company derives substantially all of its revenue from subscriptions to its consumer aviation service, CLEAR Plus. The Company offers certain limited-time free trials, family pricing, and other beneficial pricing through several channels, including airline and credit card partnerships. Membership subscription revenue is presented net of taxes, refunds, credit card chargebacks, and estimated amounts due to a credit card partner. Membership subscription revenue is also reduced by the Company’s funded portion of credit card benefits issued to Members through a partnership with a credit card company at the end of the contract period. The Company’s funded portion varies based on total number of Members for the contract year.

The Company also generates revenue in relation to CLEAR Verified. While contract structure may vary by use case, these deals are typically multi-year, recurring contracts that drive revenue primarily through transaction fees charged either per use or per user over a predefined time period, which sometimes includes tiered pricing. In addition, they may also include one-time implementation fees, licensing fees or incremental transaction fees. Revenues from our partners, and the percentage of our total revenue from these partners, have historically been immaterial.

Operating Expenses

Cost of revenue share fee

The Company operates as a concessionaire in airports and shares a portion of the gross receipts generated from the Company’s Members with the host airports and airlines (“Revenue Share”). The Revenue Share fee is generally prepaid to the host airport in the period collected from the Member. The Revenue Share fee is capitalized and subsequently amortized to operating expense over each Member’s subscription period. Such prepayments are recorded in “Prepaid revenue share fee” in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Cost of revenue share fee also includes a fixed fee component which is expensed in the period incurred and certain overhead related expenses paid to the airports in relation to our Revenue Share arrangements.

Cost of direct salaries and benefits

Cost of direct salaries and benefits includes employee-related expenses and allocated overhead associated with our field Ambassadors and field managers directly assisting Members and their corresponding travel related costs. Employee-

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related costs recorded in direct salaries and benefits consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation and expenses under arrangements related to the use of certain space at airports.

Research and development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of employee related expenses, allocated overhead costs and costs for contractors related to the Company’s development of new products and services and improving existing products and services. Research and development costs are generally expensed as incurred, except for costs incurred in connection with the development of internal-use software that qualify for capitalization as described in our internal-use software policy. Employee related compensation costs consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of costs of general marketing and promotional activities, advertising fees used to drive subscriber acquisition, commissions, the production costs to create our advertisements, expenses related to employees who manage our sales and marketing efforts, as well as brand and allocated overhead costs.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses for the executive, finance, accounting, legal, and human resources functions. Employee-related expenses consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation. In addition, general and administrative expenses include non-personnel costs, such as legal, accounting and other professional fees, warrant expense, variable credit card fees, variable mobile enrollment costs, and all other supporting corporate expenses not allocated to other departments including overhead and acquisition-related costs.

Interest income (expense), net

Interest income (expense), net primarily consists of interest income from our investment holdings and discount accretion on our marketable securities partially offset by issuance costs on our revolving credit facility.

Other income (expense), net

Other income (expense), net consists of certain non-recurring non-operating items including income recognized in relation to a minimum annual guarantee paid to us by a marketing partner and other items such as sublease income and changes in the fair value of contingent consideration.

Provision (benefit) for income taxes

As a result of the IPO and Reorganization, the Company became the sole managing member of Alclear, which is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal and most applicable state and local income tax purposes. As a partnership, Alclear is not subject to U.S. federal and most state and local income taxes. Any taxable income or loss generated by Alclear is passed through to and included in the taxable income or loss of its members, including the Company, based on ownership interest. The Company is subject to U.S. federal income taxes, in addition to state and local income taxes with respect to its allocable share of any taxable income or loss of Alclear, as well as any stand-alone income or loss generated by the Company. The Company is also subject to income taxes in Israel, Argentina, and Mexico.

Summary and discussion of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in millions):

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(1) Amounts related to the Company’s total equity-based compensation expense including warrants (refer to Note 13 within the consolidated financial statements for a description for equity-based warrants) and excluding additional expense related to repurchases, as follows:

(1) Includes $12.7 million employee equity-based compensation forfeitures for the year ended December 31, 2023.

(2) Includes $4.3 million employee equity-based compensation forfeitures for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Revenue

Revenue increased by $176.2 million, or 40%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was primarily due to an increase in the number of CLEAR Plus Members. Approximately 30% of paying CLEAR Plus Members were on a family plan as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

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Cost of revenue share fee

Cost of revenue share fee increased by $32.3 million, or 57%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was driven primarily by an increase of $8.5 million, or a 52% increase, in fixed airport fees and $23.9 million, or a 60% increase, in per Member fees. COVID-related concessions reduced Cost of revenue share fee by $2.5 million and $5.3 million in the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Cost of direct salaries and benefits

Cost of direct salaries and benefits expenses increased by $38.0 million, or 36%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was primarily due to increased employee compensation costs of $36.4 million caused by new airport openings and expansions and increased travel volumes leading to higher staffing needs.

Research and development

Research and development expenses increased by $7.6 million, or 11%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was primarily due to $4.6 million of increased allocated overhead costs, $2.2 million of increased non-cash impairment of certain assets, and $1.2 million of increased professional fees. These increases were partially offset by a $0.4 million decrease in employee related costs. Within employee related costs there was $12.7 million of employee equity-based compensation forfeitures and $1.5 million of streamlining severance costs recorded in 2023.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $1.8 million, or 4%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was driven primarily by a $2.0 million increase in employee compensation costs, $1.8 million increase in discretionary marketing expense, and $0.8 million related to increased allocated overhead costs, partially offset by a $2.7 million decrease in Ambassador commission expense.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses decreased by $55.7 million, or 20%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease was primarily driven by a $76.8 million charge of United Airlines warrants during 2022, which did not reoccur in 2023, and a $6.4 million decrease in employee related costs. Within employee related costs there was $4.3 million of equity-based compensation forfeitures and $1.1 million of streamlining severance costs recorded in 2023. These decreases were partially offset by an $8.4 million increase in technology costs, $7.9 million increase of credit card fees due to higher Total Bookings, $5.4 million increase of allocated overhead costs, and $3.5 million increase of professional fees.

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Non-operating income (expense)

Interest income, net increased by $22.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. This change was primarily driven by higher interest rates and higher average marketable securities and cash and cash equivalents balances.

Other income, net decreased by $3.5 million, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. This change was primarily due to a decrease of $6.6 million in partnership income, partially offset by an increase in sublease income.

Income tax benefit (expense)

Income tax expense increased by $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was primarily due to the U.S. federal and state current taxes not offset by tax attributes (e.g. net operating losses and general business tax credits), in addition to a state tax remeasurement benefit that occurred for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our operations have historically been financed primarily through equity financing and cash flow from operating activities. As of December 31, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $57.9 million and marketable securities of $665.2 million.

Historically, our principal uses of cash and cash equivalents have included funding our operations, capital expenditures, repurchases of members’ equity and more recently, business combinations and investments that enhance our strategic positioning. We may also use our cash and cash equivalents to repurchase our Class A Common Stock, pay cash dividends (and distributions in respect thereof) and distribute to members for tax payments. We plan to finance our operations, future stock repurchases, cash dividends, and distributions (to the extent declared), and capital expenditures largely through cash generated from the proceeds of our IPO and operations. We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, cash provided by operations and the availability of additional funds under our Credit Agreement (as defined below) will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months, including payment of dividends, potential stock repurchases, and known commitments and contingencies as discussed below. We expect that future capital expenditure will generally relate to building enhancements to the functionality of our current platform, equipment, leasehold improvements and furniture and fixtures related to office expansion, and general corporate infrastructure.

On May 13, 2022, the Company's Board authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to which the Company may purchase up to $100 million of its Class A Common Stock. On November 8, 2023, the Company announced that its Board authorized a $100 million increase to its existing Class A Common Stock share repurchase program. Under the repurchase program, the Company may purchase shares of its Class A Common Stock on a discretionary basis from time to time through open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, or other means, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will be determined by management depending on a variety of factors, including stock price, trading volume, market conditions, and other general business considerations. The repurchase program has no expiration date and may be modified, suspended, or terminated at any time. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 3,112,694 shares for $69.7 million. The repurchased shares were retired. As of December 31, 2023, $125,424 million remains available under the repurchase authorization.

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During the first quarter of 2024, the Company used $5.2 million to repurchase and retire 289,196 shares of Class A Common Stock at an average price of $17.99.

On May 9, 2023, the Company announced that a special committee of its Board declared a special cash dividend in the amount of $0.20 per share payable on May 25, 2023 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on May 18, 2023. The Company funded the payment of the special cash dividend from its pro rata share of tax distributions made by Alclear. Tax distributions are required under Alclear’s Operating Agreement. Such tax distributions were made at the highest tax rate applicable to individuals. Due mainly to the Company’s utilization of certain tax attributes and the lower tax rate on corporations, the Company received cash from tax distributions in excess of what was required to fund its tax liabilities and obligations under its Tax Receivable Agreement. The excess cash received by the Company was used to fund the cash dividend. Any future dividends will be at the discretion of, and subject to the approval of, the Board.

On August 2, 2023, the Company announced that our Board adopted a dividend policy (the "Dividend Policy") of paying a quarterly cash dividend to holders of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. The amount of such quarterly dividends are subject to approval of the actual amount by the Board at the time of such dividend declaration. It is expected that the dividends will be funded by proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of the applicable record date, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company. The declaration of cash dividends in the future is subject to final determination each quarter by the Board based on a number of factors, including the Company’s results of operations, cash flows, financial position and capital requirements, as well as general business conditions, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions and other factors the Board deems relevant at the time it determines to declare such dividends.

On August 2, 2023, we announced that our Board declared the initial quarterly dividend under the Dividend Policy in the amount of $0.07 per share, payable on August 18, 2023 to holders of record of the Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on August 11, 2023. On November 8, 2023 the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, payable on November 22, 2023 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on November 16, 2023. In addition, the Board declared a special cash dividend of $0.55 per share, payable on November 22, 2023 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on November 16, 2023.

On February 15, 2024, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, payable on March 5, 2024 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of the close of business on February 26, 2024. To the extent the quarterly dividend exceeds the Company's current and accumulated earnings and profits, a portion of the dividend may be deemed a return of capital gain to the holders of our Class A Common Stock or Class B Common Stock, as applicable.

To the extent that any of the dividends discussed above exceed the Company's current and accumulated earnings and profits, a portion of the dividend may be deemed a return of or a capital gain to the holders of our Class A Common Stock or Class B Common Stock, as applicable.

Refer to our risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Forward-Looking Statements" and in Part I. Item 1A. "Risk Factors" for further information.

Credit Agreement

On March 31, 2020, we entered into a credit agreement (as amended, restated or otherwise modified, the “Credit Agreement”) for a three-year $50 million revolving credit facility that expires on March 31, 2023. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement generally bear interest between 1.5% and 2.5% per year and also include interest based on the greater of the prime rate, London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or New York Federal Reserve Bank (“NYFRB”) rate, plus an applicable margin for specific interest periods. In April 2021, the Company increased the size of the revolving credit facility to $100 million, which matures three years from the date of the increase. The revolving credit facility includes a letter of credit sub-facility. In June 2023, the Company entered into a second amendment to the Credit Agreement to transition from LIBOR to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") as our benchmark interest rate and to extend the maturity date to June 28, 2026.

We have the option to repay any borrowings under the Credit Agreement without premium or penalty prior to maturity. In addition, the Credit Agreement contains certain other covenants (none of which relate to financial condition), events of default and other customary provisions. The Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative covenants, such as

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financial statement reporting requirements and delivery of borrowing base certificates, as well as customary covenants that restrict our ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, sell certain assets, guarantee obligations of third parties, declare dividends or make certain distributions, and undergo a merger or consolidation or certain other transactions.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had a remaining borrowing capacity of $68.4 million, net of standby letters of credit, and had no outstanding debt obligations. Additionally, the Company was in compliance with all of the financial and non-financial covenants of the Credit Agreement. Refer to Note 21 within the consolidated financial statements for further details.

Cash Flow

The following summarizes our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in millions):

Cash flows from operating activities

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash provided by operating activities was $225.0 million compared to $168.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, an increase of $56.7 million. This change was due to a year-over-year increase in net income of $165.3 million offset by a decrease in working capital changes of $5.6 million and a decrease in non-cash adjustments to net income of $102.9 million primarily driven by $101.2 million decrease in equity-based compensation.

Cash flows from investing activities

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in investing activities was $15.5 million compared to $359.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of $344.1 million. The change was primarily due to an increase in the net sales and maturities of marketable securities of $348.1 million and a decrease in capital expenditures of $5.8 million offset by a purchase of a strategic investment of $6.0 million and cash consideration paid as part of business combination of $3.8 million.

Cash flows from financing activities

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in financing activities was $216.0 million compared to $48.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, an increase of $167.1 million. The change was due to an increase in the amounts used to repurchase Class A Common Stock of $64.8 million, payments of dividends and distributions of $87.1 million, tax distribution to members of $13.9 million, and payment of taxes on net settled stock based awards of $1.4 million.

Commitments and Contingencies

We have non-cancelable operating lease arrangements for office space. As of December 31, 2023, we had future minimum payments of $207.7 million, with $15.0 million due within 12 months. See Note 8 within the consolidated financial statements for information related to our lease obligations.

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We enter into agreements with airports for access to floor and office space. As of December 31, 2023, we had future minimum payments of $55.0 million. See Note 18 within the consolidated financial statements.

The Company has commitments for future marketing expenditures to sports stadiums of $9.3 million as of December 31, 2023.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company is subject to certain minimum spend commitments of approximately $1.9 million over the next year under service arrangements.

Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported periods. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has defined a company’s critical accounting policies as the ones that are most important to the portrayal of a company’s financial condition and results of operations, and which require a company to make its most difficult and subjective judgments. Based on this definition, we have identified the critical accounting policies and judgments addressed below. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Revenue recognition

The Company has derived substantially all of its historical revenue from subscriptions to its consumer aviation service, CLEAR Plus. The Company offers certain limited-time free trials, family pricing, and other beneficial pricing through several channels including airline and credit card partnerships. Membership subscription revenue is presented net of taxes, refunds, credit card chargebacks. The membership subscription revenue is also reduced by the Company’s funded portion of credit card benefits issued to Members through a partnership with one credit card at the end of the contract period. The Company’s funded portion varies based on total number of Members enrolled each contract year.

Under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue Recognition, the Company recognizes revenue upon transfer of control of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for those products or services.

In determining how revenue should be recognized, the Company follows a five step process:

•Identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;

•Identification of the performance obligations in the contract;

•Determination of the transaction price;

•Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and

•Recognition of revenue when or as the Company satisfies the performance obligations.

Subscription revenues are invoiced to subscribers in annual installments for subscriptions to the platform. There are no significant financing components included in the Company’s contracts with subscription customers. Overall, payments received in advance of transfer of control are recorded within deferred revenue within the consolidated balance sheets.

The Company primarily recognizes revenue ratably from its consumer aviation subscription service, CLEAR Plus. This performance obligation is satisfied over time as the series of daily services, which are distinct from each other and the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits. The Company uses a time-based output measure and revenue is recognized over the period in which each of the performance obligations are satisfied, as services are rendered, which is generally over the arrangement term as all arrangements are for a period of less than 12 months.

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The Company uses the practical expedient permitted to not adjust the transaction price of contracts with a duration of one year or less for the effects of a significant financing component at contract inception.

The Company has certain other revenue streams which are not significant to the Company’s operating results.

Tax Receivable Agreement

The Company entered into a TRA which generally provides for payment by the Company to the remaining members of Alclear, the “TRA Holders,” of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax and franchise tax that the Company actually realizes or is deemed to realize in certain circumstances. The Company will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these net cash savings. As of December 31, 2023, the Company has not recognized the deferred tax asset for the step-up in tax basis, as the asset is not more-likely-than-not to be realized. Additionally, the Company has determined the TRA liability is not probable and therefore has not recorded a tax receivable liability except for realized tax benefit payment with respect to the 2022 tax year.

Business Combinations

Accounting for business combinations requires us to make significant estimates and assumptions with respect to the the fair value of identifiable assets and liabilities acquired in a business combination, especially with respect to intangible assets.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies within the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this document, for recently issued accounting pronouncements and their expected impact on our consolidated financial statements.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help readers understand our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (“Annual Report on Form 10-K”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed below.

For purposes of this MD&A, the term “we” and other forms thereof refer to Clear Secure, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), which includes Alclear Holdings, LLC (“Alclear”).

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws regarding, among other things, our or management’s intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of future events, which are considered forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These statements often include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” or similar expressions. These statements are based upon assumptions that we have made in light of our

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experience in the industry, as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors that we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. As you read this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described under the heading “Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors,” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Our forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We expressly disclaim any intent, obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The discussion in this MD&A is generally related to 2022 and 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Overview

CLEAR is an identity company obsessed with the customer experience. We make everyday experiences frictionless by connecting your identity to the things that make you, YOU - transforming the way you live, work, and travel. CLEAR has been delivering friction-free experiences in airports for over a decade, achieving exceptional user delight and trust with CLEAR Plus, our consumer aviation subscription service. CLEAR Plus enables access to predictable and fast experiences through dedicated entry lanes in airport security checkpoints nationwide. As we continue to innovate on the travel experience, we are proud to offer TSA PreCheck® Enrollment Provided by CLEAR–providing consumers with increased choice in where and how to sign up for this popular trusted traveler program–which we expect to soft launch in early 2023. Our business to business offering, Powered by CLEAR extends our identity platform to partners so they can deliver the same friction-free experiences to their customers leveraging software development kits (“SDKs”) and application programming interfaces (“APIs”). Powered by CLEAR offers solutions to partners such as identity verification, virtual queuing, and credential validation (e.g., age validation and health attributes, among others). Our flagship CLEAR app offers free to consumer products like Home-to-Gate and Health Pass, and in the future will also include Reserve Powered by CLEAR, our virtual queuing technology that enables customers to manage lines.

Key Factors Affecting Performance

We believe that our current and future financial growth are dependent upon many factors, including the key factors affecting performance described below.

Ability to Grow Total Cumulative Enrollments

We are focused on growing Total Cumulative Enrollments and the number of members that engage with our platform. Our operating results and growth opportunities depend, in part, on our ability to attract new members, including paying members (CLEAR Plus members) as well as new platform members. We rely on multiple channels to attract new CLEAR Plus members, including in-airport (our largest channel) which in turn is dependent on the ongoing ability of our ambassadors to successfully engage with the traveling public. We also rely on numerous digital channels such as paid search and partnerships. In many cases, we offer limited time free trials to new members who may convert to paying members upon the completion of their trial. Our future success is dependent on those channels continuing to drive new members and our ability to convert free trial members into paying members.

We believe we will see an acceleration of Total Cumulative Platform Uses relative to Total Cumulative Enrollments over time as our members use our products across multiple locations and use cases. We believe this dynamic will grow the long-term economic value of our platform by increasing total engagement, expanding our margins and maximizing our revenue. Our future success is dependent upon maintaining and growing our partnerships as well as ensuring our platform remains compelling to members.

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Although we have historically grown the number of new members over time and successfully converted some free trial members to paying members, our future success is dependent upon our ongoing ability to do so.

Ability to retain CLEAR Plus members

Our ability to execute on our growth strategy is focused, in part, on our ability to retain our existing CLEAR Plus members. Frequency and recency of usage are the leading indicators of retention, and we must continue to provide frictionless and predictable experiences that our members will use in their daily lives. The value of the CLEAR platform to our members increases as we add more use cases and partnerships, which in turn drives more frequent usage and increases retention. Historically, CLEAR Plus members who used CLEAR in both aviation and non-aviation venues renewed at rates materially above those who used CLEAR only in aviation. We cannot be sure that we will be successful in retaining our members due to any number of factors such as our inability to successfully implement a new product, adoption of our technology, harm to our brand or other factors.

Ability to add new partners, retain existing partners and generate new revenue streams

Our partners include local airport authorities, airlines and other businesses. Our future success depends on maintaining those relationships, adding new relationships and maintaining favorable business terms. In addition, our growth strategy relies on creating new revenue streams such as per partner, per member or per use transaction fees. Although we believe our service provides significant value to our partners, our success depends on creating mutually beneficial partnership agreements. We are focused on innovating both our product and our platform to improve our members’ experience, improve safety and security and introduce new use cases. We intend to accelerate our pace of innovation to add more features and use cases, to ultimately deliver greater value to our members and partners. In the near term, we believe that growing our member base facilitates our ability to add new partnerships and provide additional offerings, which we expect will lead to revenue generation opportunities in the long term.

Timing of new partner, product and location launches

Our financial performance is dependent in part on new partner, product and location launches. In many cases, we cannot predict the exact timing of those launches. Delays, resulting either from internal or external factors may have a material effect on our financial results.

Timing of expenses; Discretionary investments

Although many of our expenses occur in a predictable fashion, certain expenses may fluctuate from period to period due to timing.

In addition, management may make discretionary investments when it sees an opportunity to accelerate growth, add a new partner or acquire talent, among other reasons. This may lead to volatility or unpredictability in our expense base and in our profitability.

Maintaining strong unit economics

Our business model is powered by network effects and has historically been characterized by efficient member acquisition and high member retention rates. This is evident by our approximately 22 times Lifetime Value relative to our Customer Acquisition Cost for CLEAR Plus members who joined during 2022. The Lifetime Value relative to our Customer Acquisition Cost for CLEAR Plus members who joined during 2022 has improved compared to prior periods. While we believe our unit economics will remain attractive, this is dependent on our ability to add new members efficiently and maintain our historically strong retention rates. As we grow our market penetration, the cost to acquire new members could increase and the experience we deliver to members could degrade, causing lower retention rates.

Changes to the macro environment

Our business is dependent on macroeconomic and other events outside of our control, such as decreased levels of travel or attendance at events, terrorism, civil unrest, political instability, union and other transit related strikes and other general economic conditions. We are also subject to changes in discretionary consumer spending.

Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and the demand for our services increases, our expenses did, and we expect them to continue to, increase in comparison to the first quarter of 2021 and the 2020 fiscal year when we

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had lower staffing needs and proactively reduced our operating expenses. These increased expenses include higher cost of direct salaries and benefits driven by field labor, sales and marketing, research and development costs, and general and administrative (including costs associated with being a public company and increased equity-based compensation expense). Due to the nature of our revenue recognition policy (e.g., CLEAR Plus revenues are recognized over the life of a subscription, which is typically 12 months), our reported revenues are expected to lag behind Total Bookings. We may incur net losses and negative adjusted EBITDA in the long term if we are required to increase expenses to support our growth. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Financial Performance” and “Business” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The Reorganization Transactions

Prior to the completion of our initial public offering (“IPO”), we undertook certain reorganization transactions (the “Reorganization Transactions”) such that Clear Secure, Inc. is now a holding company, and its sole material asset is a controlling equity interest in Alclear. As the general partner of Alclear, Clear Secure, Inc. operates and controls all of the business and affairs of Alclear, has the obligation to absorb losses and receive benefits from Alclear and, through Alclear and its subsidiaries, conducts our business.

The Reorganization Transactions were accounted for as a reorganization of entities under common control. As a result, the consolidated financial statements of the Company recognized the assets and liabilities received in the Reorganization Transactions at their historical carrying amounts, as reflected in the historical financial statements of Alclear. The Company consolidates Alclear on its consolidated financial statements and records a non-controlling interest, related to the Alclear non-voting common units (“Alclear Units”) held by our Founders and pre-IPO members, on its consolidated balance sheets and statement of operations. See “Part I — Item 1. Business” for a more detailed discussion of the Reorganization Transactions.

Taxation and Expenses

After the consummation of our IPO, we became subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income of Alclear and will be taxed at the prevailing corporate tax rates. Alclear, is treated as flow-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, has generally not been subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level. Accordingly, the historical results of operations and other financial information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K do not include any material provisions for U.S. federal income tax for the periods prior to our IPO.

In addition to tax expense, we incur expenses related to our operations, plus payments under the tax receivable agreement (“TRA”) described below, which we expect to be significant. We intend to cause Alclear to make distributions in an amount sufficient to allow us to pay our tax obligations and operating expenses, including distributions to fund any ordinary course payments under the TRA.

Following our IPO, we have and we expect to continue to incur increased amounts of compensation expense, including related to equity awards granted under the 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan to both existing employees and newly-hired employees, and grants in connection with new hires could be significant. In addition, as a new public company, we are implementing additional procedures and processes for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. We expect to incur additional expenses related to these steps and, among other things, additional directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees, reporting requirements of the SEC, transfer agent fees, hiring additional accounting, legal and administrative personnel, increased auditing and legal fees and similar expenses.

Tax Receivable Agreement

In connection with the IPO we entered into the TRA with the Alclear Members that provides for the payment by us to the Alclear Members of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) as a result of (i) any increase in tax basis in Alclear’s assets resulting from (a) exchanges by the Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) of Alclear Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class C Common Stock or Class D Common Stock, as applicable) for shares of our Class A common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class A Common Stock”) or Class B common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class B Common Stock”) as applicable, and purchases of Alclear Units and corresponding shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (“Class C Common Stock”) or Class D common stock, $0.00001 par value per share (“Class D Common Stock” and, together with the Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock and Class C Common Stock, collectively, “Common Stock”), as the case may be, from Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) or (b) payments under the TRA, and (ii) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed arising as a result of payments made under the TRA.

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The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under these agreements, varies depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges by or purchases from the Alclear Members, the price of our Class A Common Stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of the taxable income we generate in the future and the tax rate then applicable and the portion of our payments under the TRA constituting imputed interest.

Acquisitions

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company made strategic acquisitions of Whyline, Inc., our virtual queuing technology that enables customers to manage lines and certain assets of Atlas Certified, LLC, our automated solution to verify professional licenses and certification data across industries. Revenues and operating loss related to these acquisitions for the year ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 were insignificant to the consolidated financial statements for all periods presented.

Key Performance Indicators

To evaluate performance of the business, we utilize a variety of other non-GAAP financial reporting and performance measures. These key measures include Total Bookings, Total Cumulative Enrollments, Total Cumulative Platform Uses, and Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention.

Total Bookings

Total Bookings represent our total revenue plus the change in deferred revenue during the period. Total Bookings in any particular period reflect sales to new and renewing CLEAR Plus subscribers plus any accrued billings to partners. Management believes that Total Bookings is an important measure of the current health and growth of the business and views it as a leading indicator.

Total Bookings increased by $186.0 million, or 55%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily driven by the continued rebound in air travel, launches in eight new airports, continued strength in our airline and credit card partnerships and strong net member retention.

Total Cumulative Enrollments

We define Total Cumulative Enrollments as the number of enrollments since inception as of the end of the period. An Enrollment is defined as any member who has registered for the CLEAR platform since inception and has a profile (including limited time free trials regardless of conversion to paid membership) net of duplicate and/or purged accounts. This includes CLEAR Plus members who have completed enrollment with CLEAR and have never activated a payment method, plus associated family accounts. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the efficacy of our growth and marketing initiatives as new members are potentially a current and leading indicator of revenues.

Total Cumulative Enrollments were 15,384 as of December 31, 2022 and 10,366 as of December 31, 2021, which represented a 48% increase. The year over year growth was driven by the continued rebound in air travel and the launch of 8 new airports, as well as strength in platform enrollments.

Total Cumulative Platform Uses

We define Total Cumulative Platform Uses as the number of individual engagements across CLEAR use cases, including Clear Plus, flagship app and Powered by CLEAR, since inception as of the end of the period. Management views

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this metric as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our member base which can be a leading indicator of future growth, retention and revenue.

Total Cumulative Platform Uses was 129,617 as of December 31, 2022 and 83,957 as of December 31, 2021, which represented a 54% increase, driven by a continued increase in CLEAR Plus verifications in connection with a rebound in air travel and an increased share of checkpoint volumes.

Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention

We define Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention as one minus the CLEAR Plus net member churn on a rolling 12 month basis. We define “CLEAR Plus net member churn” as total cancellations net of winbacks in the trailing 12 month period divided by the average active CLEAR Plus members as of the beginning of each month within the same 12 month period. Winbacks are defined as reactivated members who have been cancelled for at least 60 days. Active CLEAR Plus members are defined as members who have completed enrollment with CLEAR and have activated a payment method for our in-airport CLEAR Plus service, including their registered family plan members. Active CLEAR Plus members also include those in a grace period of up to 45 days after a billing failure during which time we attempt to collect updated payment information. Management views this metric as an important tool to analyze the level of engagement of our member base, which can be a leading indicator of future growth and revenue, as well as an indicator of customer satisfaction and long term business economics.

Annual CLEAR Plus Net Member Retention was 91.9% as of December 31, 2022 and 92.3% as of December 31, 2021, a year-over year decrease of 40 basis points. The performance was driven by continued strength in gross renewals and was offset by a year-over year decrease in winbacks of previously cancelled members. A significant number of members who cancelled their CLEAR Plus subscriptions in 2020 reactivated in 2021 and this began to normalize in 2022.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results as determined in accordance with GAAP, we disclose Adjusted EBITDA (Loss), Free Cash Flow, Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share, Diluted as non-GAAP financial measures that management believes provide useful information to investors. These measures are not financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for net income (loss), or any other operating performance measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure reported by other companies. Our Non-GAAP financial measures are expressed in thousands.

Adjusted EBITDA (Loss)

We define Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) as net income (loss) adjusted for income taxes, interest (income) expense net, depreciation and amortization, impairment and losses on asset disposals, equity-based compensation expense, mark to market of warrant liabilities, net other income (expense) excluding sublease rental income, acquisition-related costs and changes in fair value of contingent consideration. Adjusted EBITDA is an important financial measure used by management and our board of directors (“Board”) to evaluate business performance. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, we revised our definition of Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) to exclude sublease rental income from our other income (expense) adjustment. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022, we revised our definition of Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) to include impairment on assets as a separate component. We did not revise prior years' Adjusted EBITDA (Loss) because there was no impact of a similar nature in the prior period that affects comparability.

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Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

We define Adjusted Net Income (Loss) as Net income (loss) attributable to Clear Secure, Inc. adjusted for the net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests, equity-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, acquisition-related costs, changes in fair value of contingent consideration and the income tax effect of these adjustments. Adjusted Net Income (Loss) is used in the calculation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share as defined below.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

We compute Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share, Basic as Adjusted Net Income (Loss) divided by Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding for our Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, Class C Common Stock and Class D Common Stock assuming the exchange of all vested and outstanding common units in Alclear at the end of each period presented. We do not present Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share for shares of our Class B Common Stock although they are participating securities based on the assumed conversion of those shares to our Class A Common Stock. We do not present Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share on a dilutive basis for periods where we have Adjusted Net Loss since we do not assume the conversion of any potentially dilutive equity instruments as the result would be anti-dilutive. In periods where we have Adjusted Net Income, the Company also calculates Adjusted Net Income per Common Share, Diluted based on the effect of potentially dilutive equity instruments for the periods presented using the treasury stock/if-converted method, as applicable. Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share is only applicable for periods after June 29, 2021, post the Reorganization Transactions and IPO.

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share exclude, to the extent applicable, exclude the tax effected impact of non-cash expenses and other items that are not directly related to our core operations. These items are excluded because they are connected to the Company’s long term growth plan and not intended to increase short term revenue in a specific period. Further, to the extent that other companies use similar methods in calculating non-GAAP measures, the provision of supplemental non-GAAP information can allow for a comparison of the company’s relative performance against other companies that also report non-GAAP operating results.

Free Cash Flow

We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities adjusted for purchases of property and equipment plus the value of share repurchases over fair value. With regards to our CLEAR Plus subscription service, we generally collect cash from our members upfront for annual subscriptions. As a result, when the business is growing Free Cash Flow can be a real time indicator of the current trajectory of the business.

See below for reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP measures.

Reconciliation of Net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA (Loss)

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Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

As stated above, due to the Company incurring a net loss for certain periods presented, the Company has not calculated Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding, Dilutive for those periods.

Calculation of Adjusted Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding

Calculation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share, Basic

Calculation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share, Diluted

Summary of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per Common Share:

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Reconciliation of Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities to Free Cash Flow

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

The Company derives substantially all of its revenue from subscriptions to its consumer aviation service, CLEAR Plus. The Company offers certain limited-time free trials, family pricing, and other beneficial pricing through several channels, including airline and credit card partnerships. Membership subscription revenue is presented net of taxes, refunds, credit card chargebacks, and estimated amounts due to a credit card partner. Membership subscription revenue is also reduced by the Company’s funded portion of credit card benefits issued to members through a partnership with a credit card company at the end of the contract period. The Company’s funded portion varies based on total number of members for the contract year.

The Company also generates revenue in relation to Powered by CLEAR. While contract structure may vary by use case, these deals are typically multi-year, recurring contracts that drive revenue primarily through transaction fees charged either per use or per user over a predefined time period, which sometimes includes tiered pricing. In addition, they may also include one-time implementation fees, licensing fees or incremental transaction fees. Revenues from our partners, and the percentage of our total revenue from these partners, have historically been immaterial.

Operating Expenses

Cost of revenue share fee

The Company operates as a concessionaire in airports and shares a portion of the gross receipts generated from the Company’s members with the host airports and airlines (“Revenue Share”). The Revenue Share fee is generally prepaid to the host airport in the period collected from the member. The Revenue Share fee is capitalized and subsequently amortized to operating expense over each member’s subscription period, as the payments are refundable on a pro rata basis. Such prepayments are recorded in “Prepaid Revenue Share fee” in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Cost of Revenue Share Fee also includes a fixed fee component which is expensed in the period incurred and certain overhead related expenses paid to the airports in relation to our Revenue Share arrangements.

Cost of direct salaries and benefits

Cost of direct salaries and benefits includes employee-related expenses and allocated overhead associated with our field ambassadors and field managers directly assisting members and their corresponding travel related costs. Employee-related costs recorded in direct salaries and benefits consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation and expenses under arrangements related to the use of certain space at airports.

Research and development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of employee related expenses, allocated overhead costs and costs for contractors related to the Company’s development of new products and services and improving existing products and services. Research and development costs are generally expensed as incurred, except for costs incurred in connection with the development of internal-use software that qualify for capitalization as described in our internal-use software policy. Employee related compensation costs consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of costs of general marketing and promotional activities, advertising fees used to drive subscriber acquisition, commissions, the production costs to create our advertisements, expenses related to employees who manage our sales and marketing efforts, as well as brand and allocated overhead costs.

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General and administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses for the executive, finance, accounting, legal, and human resources functions. Employee-related expenses consist of salaries, taxes, benefits and equity-based compensation. In addition, general and administrative expenses include non-personnel costs, such as legal, accounting and other professional fees, warrant expense, variable credit card fees, variable mobile enrollment costs, and all other supporting corporate expenses not allocated to other departments including overhead and acquisition-related costs.

Interest income, net

Interest Income, net primarily consists of interest income from our investment holdings partially offset by amortization of discounts on our marketable securities and issuance costs on our revolving credit facility.

Other income (expense), net

Other Income (Expense), Net consists of certain non-recurring non-operating items including income recognized in relation to a minimum annual guarantee paid to us by a marketing partner and other items such as changes in the fair value of contingent consideration.

Provision (benefit) for income taxes

As a result of the IPO and Reorganization, the Company became the sole managing member of Alclear, which is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal and most applicable state and local income tax purposes. As a partnership, Alclear is not subject to U.S. federal and most state and local income taxes. Any taxable income or loss generated by Alclear is passed through to and included in the taxable income or loss of its members, including the Company, based on ownership interest. The Company is subject to U.S. federal income taxes, in addition to state and local income taxes with respect to its allocable share of any taxable income or loss of Alclear, as well as any stand-alone income or loss generated by the Company. The Company is also subject to income taxes in Israel, Argentina, and Mexico. On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act creates a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on profit of corporations whose average annual adjusted financial statement income for any consecutive three-tax-year period preceding the tax year exceeds $1 billion and is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act creates an excise tax of 1% on the fair market value of net stock repurchases made after December 31, 2022. The Company does not currently expect this provision to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Summary and discussion of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020: (in millions)

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(1) Amounts related to the Company’s total equity-based compensation expense including warrants (refer to note 13 within the consolidated financial statements for a description for equity-based warrants) and excluding additional expense related to repurchases, as follows:

Revenue

Revenue increased by $183.4 million, or 72%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily driven by a 71% increase in the number of average monthly CLEAR Plus members, and a 1% increase in average revenue per CLEAR Plus member in the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, respectively. Approximately 30% and 29% of paying CLEAR Plus members in the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, were on a family plan.

Cost of Revenue Share Fee

Cost of revenue share fee increased by $19.1 million, or 51%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily driven by an increase of $7.6 million, or 40%, in fixed airport fees and a net $14.4 million, or 53%, increase in per member fees. COVID-related concessions reduced cost of revenue share fee by $5.3 million for 2022 and $2.4 million in 2021.

Cost of direct salaries and benefits

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Cost of direct salaries and benefits expenses increased by $37.1 million, or 55%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily due to increased employee compensation costs of $36.0 million caused by increasing travel volumes leading to higher staffing needs as well as new airport openings.

Research and development

Research and development expenses increased by $19.3 million, or 41%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily due to an increase of $19.0 million in employee compensation costs, inclusive of equity-based compensation costs. The change in equity-based compensation costs included a $2.6 million increase related to pre-IPO employee performance awards.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $6.5 million, or 18%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was driven by increased ambassador commission expense of $10.8 million due to higher new member enrollments, partially offset by a $5.2 million decrease in discretionary marketing expense. Sales and marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 included $0.2 million of non-cash equity-based compensation expense from pre-IPO employee performance awards.

General and administrative