Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (CRL) AI Stock Analysis

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. is a contract research organization providing non-clinical services for drug discovery, development, and safety testing. It operates through three main segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions. The RMS segment produces and distributes rodent research models, genetically engineered models, and ancillary diagnostic and insourcing services. The DSA segment provides early-stage discovery services to validate drug targets and conducts toxicology, pathology, and safety pharmacology evaluations. The Manufacturing Solutions segment offers in vitro testing methods and rapid quality control tests for sterile and non-sterile pharmaceuticals and consumer products.

Revenue increased from $3.54B in FY2021 to $4.13B in FY2023, before declining to $4.05B in FY2024 and $4.02B in FY2025. Gross margin contracted from 37.7% in FY2021 to 30.5% in FY2025, while operating margin fell from 16.7% to 12.6%. Net income transitioned from a profit of $391.0M in FY2021 to a loss of -$144.3M in FY2025. In the latest quarter ended June 30, 2026, quarterly revenue fell 2.7% year-over-year, and quarterly earnings fell 17.3%. Trailing twelve-month revenue stood at $4.00B with an operating margin of 15.1% and diluted EPS of -$4.80.

As of June 30, 2026, Charles River Laboratories held $192.0M in cash and short-term investments against $3.03B in total debt, resulting in net debt of $2.84B. Shareholders' equity was $2.84B, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.35. Total assets reached $7.53B. Operating cash flow in FY2025 was $737.6M, which supported capital expenditures of $219.2M and yielded free cash flow of $518.5M. The company also allocated $360.7M to share buybacks in FY2025, contributing to a 5-year share count decline of 6.0%.

At $300.15, CRL trades at a forward P/E of 22.4x, higher than the 16.5x forward P/E median of its S&P 500 Healthcare peers. The company has a price-to-sales ratio of 3.6x compared to the peer median of 3.4x, and an EV/EBITDA of 72.9x compared to the peer median of 15.0x. Over the past 12 months, the stock returned 71.6%, outperforming the S&P 500 benchmark return of 16.8%. Over a 5-year period, CRL generated a return of -25.6%, lagging the benchmark return of 83.0%.

Wall Street coverage includes 11 Strong Buy, 4 Buy, 2 Hold, and 1 Strong Sell rating. The mean price target is $315.53, representing an upside of 5.1% from the last close of $300.15. For the current fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, consensus estimates project EPS of $11.38 on revenue of $3.92B. For the next fiscal year, 17 analysts project EPS of $12.76, an increase of 12.1%, and revenue of $4.02B. The company beat EPS estimates in all of the last 4 quarters, and the next earnings date is November 4, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (CRL). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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