Why Charles River Laboratories (CRL) Stock Is Up Today

Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) is up 12.5% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely catalyst is the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings release, which was scheduled for Wednesday, August 5, 2026 before the market opened. Because a full same-day release was not easily available in public search results at the time of review, this could be because investors are reacting to an earnings beat, steadier demand in drug discovery and safety assessment, or improved margin expectations tied to recent divestitures.

Details:

Charles River had already told investors it would report second-quarter 2026 results on August 5 before the market open, making earnings the clearest likely driver of a large one-day move.

Heading into the report, Wall Street expectations called for roughly mid-$2 adjusted EPS and revenue just under $1 billion, so a strong upside surprise could have fueled the rally.

In first-quarter 2026, the company beat consensus on both adjusted EPS and revenue while reaffirming its full-year outlook, showing the business had some momentum entering the second quarter.

Management has also been reshaping the portfolio through divestitures, a strategy investors may view favorably if the latest quarter showed better profitability, cleaner execution, or stronger cash generation.

Sources:

Charles River Laboratories Investor Relations, MarketBeat, FXEmpire

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$CRL Insider Trading Activity

$CRL insiders have traded $CRL stock on the open market 2 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CRL stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

JAMES C FOSTER sold 75,000 shares for an estimated $16,875,000
JOSEPH W LAPLUME (EVP, Corp Strategy & Develop) purchased 25 shares for an estimated $4,363

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$CRL Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 236 institutional investors add shares of $CRL stock to their portfolio, and 278 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

FMR LLC added 1,722,334 shares (+99.3%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $297,102,615
PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ added 1,052,287 shares (+1444.3%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $181,519,507
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC added 794,636 shares (+190.3%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $137,074,710
MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC added 603,932 shares (+182.9%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $104,178,270
AMUNDI added 492,301 shares (+175.2%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $84,921,922
HARRIS ASSOCIATES L P added 475,690 shares (+28.4%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $82,056,525
WOODLINE PARTNERS LP removed 342,954 shares (-97.8%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $59,159,565

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$CRL Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $CRL recently. We have seen 8 analysts offer price targets for $CRL in the last 6 months, with a median target of $219.5.

Here are some recent targets:

Ricky Goldwasser from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $260.0 on 07/09/2026
Michael Luo from CLSA set a target price of $219.0 on 05/29/2026
Ross Muken from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $220.0 on 05/08/2026
Luke Sergott from Barclays set a target price of $220.0 on 05/08/2026
Casey Woodring from JP Morgan set a target price of $160.0 on 04/13/2026
Dan Leonard from UBS set a target price of $175.0 on 02/25/2026
Ann Hynes from Mizuho set a target price of $175.0 on 02/20/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.