One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$151.35 our estimate vs market $299.80
Wall Street consensus: $315.53 (108.5% higher than our fair-value estimate)
98% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.
CRL · NYQ · Healthcare · Diagnostics & Research
Current price
$299.80
52-week range
$146.20 - $333.30
Market cap
$14.44B
Balance sheet
Stretched
3.75x Stretched
Net debt $2.84B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
1 Reward
3 Risks
1 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -7.5% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 16.4% to 15.1% over 3 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.5% (peer median: 1.1%).
What this company does
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) helps other companies develop new medicines by providing research animals, testing services, and manufacturing support. Their money primarily comes from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that need these services to test and create new drugs, which is important because CRL's work helps speed up the process of getting potentially life-saving treatments to market.
How the company got here
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) was founded in 1947, starting as a small supplier of research animals. Over the decades, it grew by acquiring other companies and expanding its services. A key turning point was its strategic shift to offer a broader range of services beyond just research models, encompassing the entire drug discovery and development process. This expansion allowed CRL to become a one-stop shop for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies looking to bring new medicines to market.
What it actually does
Imagine a company that helps other companies create new medicines. Charles River Laboratories provides essential services that scientists need to discover and test potential drugs before they can be given to people. This includes providing the special animals used in research, conducting laboratory tests to see if a drug is safe and effective, and even helping to manufacture certain medical products. Essentially, CRL is a crucial partner in the long and complex journey of developing new treatments for diseases.
Research Models and Services
This part of Charles River Laboratories is like a specialized farm for research animals, primarily purpose-bred rats and mice. These animals are essential tools for scientists studying diseases and testing new drugs. Beyond just providing the animals, this segment offers services to help researchers use them effectively, including genetic modifications to create specific models for certain diseases and diagnostic services to ensure the animals are healthy. It's a foundational piece of the drug development puzzle, providing the biological systems needed for early-stage research.
Discovery and Safety Assessment
This segment is where the heavy lifting of early drug development happens. Scientists here conduct laboratory tests, both in living organisms (in vivo) and in test tubes (in vitro), to discover potential drug candidates and assess their safety. This involves a range of specialized services like toxicology (studying harmful effects), pathology (examining tissues), and pharmacology (how drugs affect the body). They help determine if a new molecule is promising enough to move forward in the development process, essentially acting as a critical safety and efficacy checkpoint.
Manufacturing Solutions
This business unit focuses on helping companies produce and test their pharmaceutical and consumer products. It involves developing and using laboratory methods to ensure products are safe and effective, particularly for sterile items. They also offer specialized testing for biological products and contract manufacturing services, meaning they can help produce certain drugs or components for other companies. This segment bridges the gap between developing a drug and getting it ready for wider use or commercial production.
What management is betting on now
Charles River Laboratories' management is focused on expanding its role as a comprehensive partner in drug development. They are investing in advanced technologies and services, particularly in areas like cell and gene therapy, to meet the evolving needs of the biopharmaceutical industry. The company is also strategically forming collaborations with research institutions and other companies to accelerate innovation. This strategy aims to capture more of the drug development value chain, from initial discovery through to manufacturing, positioning CRL as an indispensable resource for its clients.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$213.07M
FY2024 Q4
$83.75M
FY2025 Q1
$112.37M
FY2025 Q2
$169.31M
FY2025 Q3
$178.25M
FY2025 Q4
$58.57M
FY2026 Q1
$-14.83M
FY2026 Q2
$148.62M
Revenue
$1.00B
Net income
$-1.48M
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$179.72M
Free cash flow
$148.62M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$995.83M
Net income
$-14.84M
Diluted EPS
-0.30
Operating cash flow
$41.08M
Free cash flow
$-14.83M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$994.23M
Net income
$-276.56M
Diluted EPS
-5.57
Operating cash flow
$147.52M
Free cash flow
$58.57M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.00B
Net income
$54.42M
Diluted EPS
1.10
Operating cash flow
$213.83M
Free cash flow
$178.25M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.03B
Net income
$52.33M
Diluted EPS
1.06
Operating cash flow
$204.60M
Free cash flow
$169.31M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$984.17M
Net income
$25.47M
Diluted EPS
0.50
Operating cash flow
$171.70M
Free cash flow
$112.37M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.00B
Net income
$-214.50M
Diluted EPS
-4.17
Operating cash flow
$159.36M
Free cash flow
$83.75M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.01B
Net income
$69.66M
Diluted EPS
1.33
Operating cash flow
$251.79M
Free cash flow
$213.07M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $151.35 vs current price $299.80
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $315.53 (108.5% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $151.35 a share — about 49.5% below today's price of $299.80, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $2.8B. Interest coverage 3.7x.
Net debt
$2.84B
Interest coverage
3.75x
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 3.7 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CRL
BASELINE
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.
Total debt $3.03B Interest coverage 3.75x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $16.25B Interest coverage 3.14x -16% vs CRL Carries about 1.2x less debt cushion than CRL.
Total debt $3.53B Interest coverage 5.38x +44% vs CRL Carries about 1.4x more debt cushion than CRL.
Total debt $6.82B Interest coverage 6.77x +81% vs CRL Carries about 1.8x more debt cushion than CRL.
Total debt $144.11M Interest coverage 41.86x +1,017% vs CRL Carries about 11.2x more debt cushion than CRL.
Total debt $1.12B Interest coverage -0.33x -100% vs CRL This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with CRL.
What you should know
The case for and against CRL
1 Reward
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -7.5% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Operating margin compressed from 16.4% to 15.1% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.5% (peer median: 1.1%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
23.50x
P/B
5.04x
P/S
3.61x
EV/EBITDA
20.28x
PEG ratio
0.12x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
34.6%
Operating margin
15.1%
Net margin
-6.0%
ROE
-7.5%
ROA
4.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.05x
Current ratio
1.35x
Quick ratio
0.80x
Total debt
$3.03B
Total cash
$192.02M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$4.00B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
3.2%
EPS TTM
-4.80
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$582.15M
Free CF TTM
$518.49M
FCF margin
13.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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