When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) as an attractive investment with its 15.4x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

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Clear Secure certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

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How Is Clear Secure's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Clear Secure's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 482%. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year EPS growth being relatively non-existent overall. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should bring diminished returns, with earnings decreasing 12% per annum as estimated by the eight analysts watching the company. That's not great when the rest of the market is expected to grow by 11% per year.

In light of this, it's understandable that Clear Secure's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

The Bottom Line On Clear Secure's P/E

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Clear Secure's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Clear Secure you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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