William Blair analyst Max Smock has reiterated their bullish stance on CRL stock, giving a Buy rating on January 2.
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Max Smock has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors tied to both the current share-price reaction and Charles River Laboratories’ longer-term fundamentals. He views the stock’s decline following the CEO transition announcement as an overreaction, particularly since investor-relations commentary suggests that underlying business trends have not deteriorated. Recent disclosure on discovery and safety assessment bookings shows a steady improvement in book-to-bill ratios through the back half of the year, supporting expectations for sequential momentum into the fourth quarter. In his view, this points to an operational inflection that helps the company move beyond the demand headwinds and strategic uncertainties that weighed on the shares in the prior year.
Max Smock also sees the leadership change itself as a source of continuity rather than disruption, reinforcing his constructive stance. The incoming CEO, Birgit Girshick, brings decades of experience at Charles River and has effectively been groomed for the top role through her tenure as COO, which supports confidence in a smooth transition. Jim Foster’s continued presence on the board further reduces succession risk and preserves institutional knowledge from his long track record of building the company into a leading preclinical CRO. Taken together, the improving bookings trends, signs that prior overhangs are fading, and a well-prepared leadership handoff underpin Smock’s view that the current valuation offers an attractive entry point and justify his Buy rating.
In another report released on January 2, Citi also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $0.00 price target.