Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) Earnings: Q3 Fiscal 2026 Results

The quarter ended September 26, 2026 and Charles River Laboratories published the results on November 4, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 fiscal 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. Charles River Laboratories reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and non-GAAP, which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• In May 2026 Charles River sold its CDMO business (Manufacturing Solutions), its Cell Solutions business (RMS) and certain European Discovery Services sites (DSA). Reported revenue fell 2.2%; Charles River's organic revenue growth, which excludes divestitures, acquisitions and currency, was 4.7%.
• GAAP results include a benefit of $245.6 million, or $5.06 a share, from reversing acquired tax reserves after new tax legislation in a foreign jurisdiction: $201 million in the tax line and $44.6 million in DSA operating income.
• Charles River reports in thousands; figures here are in millions rounded to one decimal.

Source: Charles River Laboratories Q3 2026 results, November 4, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 26, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How Charles River Laboratories splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 fiscal 2026 against Q3 fiscal 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• Charles River Laboratories's Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) revenue was $596 million in Q3 fiscal 2026, down 1% from $601 million in Q3 fiscal 2025, 61% of total revenue.
• Charles River Laboratories's Manufacturing Solutions revenue was $179 million in Q3 fiscal 2026, down 6% from $191 million in Q3 fiscal 2025, 18% of total revenue.
• Charles River Laboratories's Research Models and Services (RMS) revenue was $208 million in Q3 fiscal 2026, down 3% from $214 million in Q3 fiscal 2025, 21% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

Charles River's current 2026 guidance table: reported revenue change of (2.0)% to (1.5)%, organic revenue growth of at least +1.5%, GAAP EPS of $8.15 to $8.35 and non-GAAP EPS of $11.35 to $11.55. The prior guidance was (3.5)% to (2.5)%, 0.0% to 1.0%, $3.05 to $3.35 and $11.15 to $11.45.

In its Q3 fiscal 2026 release, Charles River Laboratories said:

“The Company is increasing its 2026 revenue and earnings per share guidance, which was last updated on August 5, 2026.”

“This increase primarily reflects the third-quarter outperformance, which was principally driven by the better-than-expected performance in the DSA segment and a lower tax rate.”

“On a GAAP basis, the Company is also increasing its earnings per share guidance, due primarily to the third-quarter benefit associated with the reversal of acquired tax reserves.”

Source: Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Nov 4, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the CRL forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP total revenue and diluted EPS, each as first reported in that quarter's release, converted from thousands to millions.

We do not hold a confirmed date for Charles River Laboratories's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 fiscal 2026 (this page), reported Nov 4, 2026

Charles River Laboratories sells preclinical research services and products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and academic institutions in three segments. In Q3 fiscal 2026 Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) had revenue of $596.3 million, Research Models and Services (RMS) $207.5 million and Manufacturing Solutions $178.9 million, for a total of $982.7 million against $1,004.9 million. In 2025 DSA was 59.8% of total revenue and RMS 21.1%. (Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; Charles River Form 10-K, fiscal 2025, Feb 18, 2026)

Charles River's DSA segment runs outsourced drug discovery research, bioanalytical work and the regulatory-required safety testing of new drugs. DSA revenue fell $4.4 million: the sale of certain European Discovery Services businesses removed $36.4 million, while revenue for regulated safety assessment services rose $33.5 million. Organic DSA revenue rose 5.9%, and DSA backlog was $2.0 billion at September 26, 2026, against $1.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2025. (Charles River Form 10-K, fiscal 2025, Feb 18, 2026; Charles River Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026; Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River's Manufacturing Solutions revenue fell 6.2% to $178.9 million because of the $25.3 million CDMO business that was sold in May 2026. Organic revenue rose 7.4%: Microbial Solutions added $7.2 million on higher demand for endotoxin testing reagents and Biologics Testing $6.6 million. (Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; Charles River Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River's RMS revenue fell 2.8% to $207.5 million. The 10-Q lists the Cell Solutions divestiture ($6.0 million), lower large research model revenue ($4.4 million) and lower small research model product revenue in North America ($3.8 million), partly offset by small research model sales in China ($4.9 million) and Insourcing Solutions service revenue ($2.8 million). (Charles River Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026; Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River's client base is spread out: during 2025 no single client accounted for more than 4% of total revenue, or more than 8% of the revenue of any of its three segments. Service revenue was $780.3 million of the quarter's total and product revenue $202.4 million. (Charles River Form 10-K, fiscal 2025, Feb 18, 2026; Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River's GAAP diluted EPS of $6.86 was more than double its non-GAAP EPS of $3.09 because of a $245.6 million benefit, $5.06 a share, from reversing acquired tax reserves after newly enacted tax legislation in a foreign jurisdiction. The non-GAAP reconciliation removes $201.1 million of it as a reversal of an unrecognized tax benefit reserve; the rest was a $44.6 million benefit in DSA operating income. (Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River's provision for income taxes was a benefit of $163.8 million on pretax income of $170.7 million, an effective tax rate of (96.0)%, against 36.3% a year earlier. Non-GAAP EPS rose 27.2% from $2.43, which Charles River attributed mainly to a higher operating margin, with non-GAAP operating margin up 330 basis points to 23.0%, and a lower tax rate. (Charles River Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026; Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River's diluted weighted-average shares fell to 48.6 million from 49.4 million. Over the first nine months of fiscal 2026 it repurchased 1.7 million shares for $300.0 million and had $700.0 million left on its $1.0 billion authorization. (Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; Charles River Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 4, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

Charles River gives full-year guidance in its release and raised it with the Q3 report. For fiscal 2026 it now expects reported revenue to change by (2.0)% to (1.5)%, including about 4.5% from divestitures, organic revenue growth of at least 1.5%, GAAP EPS of $8.15 to $8.35 and non-GAAP EPS of $11.35 to $11.55, up from $11.15 to $11.45. (Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Charles River said the increase reflects third-quarter outperformance, led by DSA and a lower tax rate. Its GAAP EPS guidance includes a $5.03 benefit from the reversal of acquired tax reserves, and the bridge to non-GAAP adds back about $2.10 of acquisition-related amortization, about $4.70 of acquisition- and divestiture-related costs and about $1.50 of restructuring and efficiency costs. (Charles River Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover Charles River Laboratories, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones Charles River Laboratories's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 fiscal 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning CRL is on is CRL a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the CRL forecast, and what the company does is on the Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document Charles River Laboratories published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.