Charles River Laboratories Q1 2026: Divestiture Charge Drives Loss, Outlook Unchanged

May 7, 2026 · Published August 7, 2026

Charles River posted a quarterly loss driven by a one-time charge tied to selling two business units, while core lab-services demand held roughly steady and 2026 guidance was left unchanged.

Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 28, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.

Key takeaways

• The reported loss was driven almost entirely by a one-time $118 million pretax accounting charge taken when the company’s CDMO (contract manufacturing) and Cell Solutions units were reclassified as “held for sale” ahead of a divestiture — not by weakness in day-to-day lab operations.
• That sale closed on May 6, 2026, with Charles River selling both units to GI Partners. Depending on how those businesses perform afterward, Charles River could still owe up to $45 million toward their future losses, or could collect up to $50 million in earn-out payments.
• Total revenue was slightly higher than a year earlier, but that gain came mostly from a weaker U.S. dollar boosting the value of overseas sales when converted back to dollars; stripping out currency effects and the divested unit, underlying (organic) revenue actually edged down.
• Results were mixed across the business: Discovery and Safety Assessment, which runs drug-safety testing for pharmaceutical clients, grew modestly; Research Models, which supplies lab animals for research, declined; and Manufacturing Solutions was the strongest segment, with underlying growth.
• Margins over the trailing twelve months were thin to negative, but that mainly reflects one-time charges like the divestiture write-down rather than a sudden shift in ongoing profitability.
• Management reaffirmed its full-year 2026 targets for underlying revenue (expected to decline slightly) and adjusted per-share profit, signaling the divestiture charge did not change its outlook for the rest of the year.
• The company did lower its full-year guidance for total (non-currency-adjusted) revenue growth, but attributed this to a stronger dollar working against foreign sales rather than any change in customer demand.
• Charles River repurchased $200 million of its own stock during the quarter, continuing to return cash to shareholders even as it absorbed the divestiture-related loss.

Q1 2026 in context

Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.

How the stock took it

Charles River Laboratories International Inc closed at $181.73 on May 6, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $177.62 on May 8, 2026, the first session after it — -2.3% across the report.

Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.

Financial history →

Sources: company report