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

Core Insights - Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (CRL) is a contract research organization with a market cap of approximately $8 billion, providing drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services [1] Financial Performance - CRL's stock has underperformed the broader market, declining 13.7% over the past 52 weeks and 12.2% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 Index gained 10.5% over the same period [2] - The company's stock prices dropped 5.7% following the release of its Q3 results, where the topline dipped 49 basis points year-over-year to $1 billion, but exceeded expectations by 2.1% [4] - Adjusted EPS for Q3 declined 6.2% year-over-year to $2.43, surpassing consensus estimates by 4.7% [4] - For the full fiscal 2025, analysts expect CRL to deliver an adjusted EPS of $10.21, down 1.1% year-over-year [5] Analyst Ratings and Price Targets - Among 16 analysts covering CRL, the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy," with 10 "Strong Buys" and six "Holds" [5] - Morgan Stanley analyst Ricky Goldwasser maintained an "Equal-Weight" rating and raised the price target from $170 to $185, with a mean price target of $192.93 representing a 19% premium to current price levels [7] - The street-high target of $211 suggests a notable 30.2% upside potential [7]