Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish on Charles River Laboratories Stock?

Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish on Charles River Laboratories Stock?

Kritika Sarmah

Wed, August 26, 2026 at 3:43 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• CRL +0.44%
• ^GSPC +0.72%

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (CRL), based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, has a market capitalization of approximately $14.3 billion. The company is a global contract research organization that supports pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies. It provides research, drug discovery, safety assessment, microbial solutions, and biologics services to help develop medicines and therapies.

Shares of this leading contract research organization have considerably outperformed the broader market over the past year. CRL has advanced 81.4% over this period, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has advanced 18.7%. In 2026, CRL has also continued to outperform, climbing 49.2%, compared with the index's 12.2% gain over the same period.

More News from Barchart

Narrowing the comparison, CRL has also outperformed the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF (RSPH), which has gained 29.5% over the past year and 19.4% on a year-to-date basis.

On August 5, Charles River Laboratories reported its Q2 FY2026 earnings, with shares surging 11.4% as results topped estimates and the company raised its outlook. Revenue was $1 billion, down 2.7% from the prior-year quarter. Additionally, non-GAAP EPS declined 3.2% year over year to $3.02.

It raised its full-year 2026 guidance, now expecting organic revenue growth of 0% to 1%, up from its previous range of negative 1.5% to negative 0.5%, and non-GAAP EPS of $11.15 to $11.45, compared with $10.80 to $11.30 previously.

For the current fiscal year ending in December 2026, analysts expect CRL's diluted EPS to rise 10.4% year-over-year to $11.35. CRL has surpassed consensus EPS estimates in each of the past four quarters, which is impressive.

Among the 16 analysts covering CRL stock, the consensus rating is "Strong Buy." The rating is based on 11 "Strong Buy," two "Moderate Buy," and three "Hold" ratings.

CRL's analyst consensus rating is more bullish than it was a month ago, when the stock had an overall "Moderate Buy" rating.

On August 10, TD Cowen analyst Charles Rhyee maintained a "Buy" rating on Charles River Laboratories while raising the price target to $300 from $235, citing strong preclinical demand and improving proposal activity.

CRL shares are currently trading above the mean price target of $290.07, while the Street-high target of $318 suggests a potential upside of 6.8%.

On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com