Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (CRL)

FairStock Score: 38/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look for a durable franchise, honest accounting, and a price that leaves room for error. Charles River is a real business: it provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, safety testing and research models, with 18,300 employees and a global client base. The franchise has scale, but the financial record shows the moat is not protecting profits right now. The filed numbers show the problem: in fiscal 2025, the year ended 2025-12-27, revenue was $4.0B but net income was -$144.3M and diluted EPS -$2.91, down from net income of $22.2M and EPS $0.20 in fiscal 2024, the year ended 2024-12-28, and $474.6M and $9.22 in fiscal 2023, the year ended 2023-12-30. In fiscal Q2 2026, the quarter ended 2026-06-27, revenue was $1.0B and net income -$1.5M, or EPS -$0.03; that is better than fiscal Q1 2026's net loss of $14.8M, or EPS -$0.30, but still not a healthy profit. Cash is a redeeming feature: trailing-twelve-month free cash flow was $370.6M, a FairStock FCF yield of 2.2%, while FairStock shows debt/equity 1.05, Altman Z 2.63 and Piotroski 6/9. At the 2026-10-26 close of $357.27, FairStock's P/E is -74.28, P/B 6.00, and EV/EBITDA 87.65; the stock is near its 52-week high of $357.77 and far above the $146.20 low. FairStock classifies it as TURNAROUND — loss in latest year after earlier profits — and its score is 38/100. I would want evidence of normalized margins before calling this cheap.

In plain English: Charles River helps drug companies test and develop medicines, including supplying research animals and lab services. It still produces cash, but it lost money in fiscal 2025 and in the latest quarter, and sales have not grown much. At the 2026-10-26 close of $357.27, the stock looks expensive compared with current profits and cash flow, especially since it pays no dividend.

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Data as of 2026-10-26 close · note generated 2026-10-28 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-27) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-28) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-27) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-28) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-27) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-28) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-30)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer