Charles River lifts profit forecast on improving biotech demand

• "We were encouraged that the demand environment continued to strengthen in the second quarter ... this improvement was broad based across our global biopharmaceutical and small and mid-sized biotechnology clients," said CEO Birgit Girshick.
• The Wilmington, Massachusetts-based company now expects its 2026 adjusted per share profit to be between $11.15 and $11.45, up from its prior view of $10.80 to $11.30.
• Charles River said the new forecast "reflects the expected operational outperformance for the year, including in the second quarter, due primarily to improving demand trends in the DSA (Discovery and Safety Assessment) segment and better-than-expected performance in the Manufacturing segment."
• Quarterly revenue at its drug discovery and safety assessment segment rose 0.2% on an organic basis to $606.5 million, driven primarily by higher study volume for regulated safety assessment services.
• Charles River's second-quarter revenue came in at $1 billion, surpassing analysts' average estimate of $975.7 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
• On an adjusted basis, Charles River reported profit of $3.02 per share, beating Wall Street's estimate of $2.74 per share.

Aug. 5 (Reuters) - Contract drug developer Charles River Laboratories on Wednesday raised its annual profit forecast after quarterly results beat estimates, as it banked on stronger demand for its drug discovery and development services from biotech clients.

Clinical research organizations have shown signs of improvement as biotech and pharmaceutical companies increase spending on research and manufacturing after a prolonged post-pandemic slowdown.