Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. · CRL · FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026

Charles River raises FY2026 outlook after strong Q3; demand and margins improve

Q3 results and another increase to full-year guidance support the view that biopharma demand and operational execution are improving. Whether that momentum persists depends on DSA pricing, non-human-primate supply, biotech funding and broader macro conditions.

Reported Before market openNYSEHealthcare $16.95B market cap
80quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS — Consensus $2.97
EPS surprise — Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue — Consensus $960.4M
Revenue surprise — Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -6.0% Event window
SPY move +1.8% Same window
Abnormal move -7.8% Stock minus SPY
Volume 0.8× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift 0.0% Up to 20 sessions
CRLSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Management said Q3 revenue and non-GAAP EPS exceeded its prior outlook and raised full-year guidance again. The call described mid-single-digit organic growth in DSA and high-single-digit growth in manufacturing, with higher study volume, lower non-human-primate sourcing costs and the CDMO divestiture contributing to margin expansion. Compared with Q2, the call continues the raised-guidance and improving-demand narrative, while highlighting execution of automation and transformation initiatives.

Guidance delta

Raised full-year revenue and non-GAAP EPS guidance after Q3 results exceeded prior expectations. The supplied analysis specifies revenue guidance of over 1.5% organic growth; it does not provide the revised EPS range.

Key takeaways

  • Management described improving biopharma demand and rebounding IND-enabling programs, alongside growth in DSA and manufacturing.
  • Higher study volume, lower non-human-primate sourcing costs and the CDMO divestiture supported Q3 operating-margin expansion.
  • The company is advancing automation, digital workflows and Virtual Control Groups; management cited a cumulative $300 million cost-savings objective by 2030.

Management priorities

  • Continue the Create the Future transformation and cost-saving initiatives.
  • Expand bioanalytical capacity and pursue automation across manufacturing and digital workflows.
  • Scale rapid cell banking and Virtual Control Groups while advancing strategic partnerships.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
CRL REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 3 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $991M Q4 '23 actual $1B, beat Q1 '24 estimate $992M Q1 '24 actual $1B, beat Q2 '24 estimate $1B Q2 '24 actual $1B, beat Q3 '24 estimate $982M Q3 '24 actual $1B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $969M Q2 '25 actual $1B, beat Q3 '25 estimate $987M Q3 '25 actual $1B, beat Q4 '25 estimate $987M Q4 '25 actual $994M, beat Q1 '26 estimate $977M Q1 '26 actual $996M, beat Q2 '26 estimate $977M Q2 '26 actual $1B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $960M Q4 '26 estimate $939M Q1 '27 estimate $976M
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy36 ratings
Bullish2672.2%
Neutral1027.8%
Bearish00.0%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$326.29Current
$151Low
$302.11Average
$465High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Nov 4, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Morgan Stanley Overweight OverweightMaintainOct 13, 2026
Jefferies Buy BuyMaintainSep 28, 2026
TD Cowen Buy BuyMaintainSep 25, 2026
RBC Capital Outperform OutperformMaintainSep 25, 2026
Mizuho Neutral NeutralMaintainSep 25, 2026
Show 31 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $326.29. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$340$301.14 +4.2%Oct 12, 2026
UBSKevin Caliendo$357$295.96 +9.4%Sep 30, 2026
JefferiesDavid Windley$340$292.84 +4.2%Sep 28, 2026
Deutsche BankJustin Bowers$320$291.16 -1.9%Sep 25, 2026
RBC CapitalAnalyst unavailable$322$291.11 -1.3%Sep 25, 2026
See 56 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. operates as a contract research organization (CRO), providing essential preclinical services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Its core business revolves around assisting clients with drug discovery, non-clinical development, and thorough safety testing, with its services extending globally across the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Asia Pacific region. The company organizes its diverse offerings into three principal segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions. 1. Research Models and Services (RMS): This division is a key supplier of high-quality rodent research models, including specially bred strains of rats and mice for experimental purposes. It also offers a comprehensive array of support services to help clients effectively utilize these models in their research and for the screening of potential non-clinical drug candidates.…

Historical context

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-11-04T18:16:25.351955+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-11-04T01:23:13.345574+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-11-04T18:50:45.642842+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-11-04T18:50:45.640182+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-11-04. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.