LIVE
CRL
Charles River Laboratories International Inc. · Healthcare / Contract Research Organization (Preclinical)
$185.00
+21.37% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
IQV
IQVIA Holdings Inc. · Healthcare / Clinical Research Organization & Healthcare Data
$167.77
-3.12% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
CRL
2
IQV
3
Comparison scoreboard
IQV LEADS 3/5AI Score
CRL 38.4
IQV ✓51.2
1Y Return
CRL ✓+27.54%
IQV +8.87%
Fwd P/E
CRL 15.23
IQV ✓12.78
Target Up.
CRL +13.20%
IQV ✓+25.07%
Op. Margin
CRL ✓15.92%
IQV 13.61%
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
CRL vs IQV Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
CRL and IQV serve different stages of pharmaceutical R&D. CRL specializes in preclinical drug discovery and safety testing — required before any drug enters human trials, sensitive to biotech startup funding. IQV manages clinical trials (human testing — Phase I through IV) for large pharma companies — more stable customers with $30B+ in contracted backlog providing multi-year revenue visibility. CRL's biotech funding sensitivity creates higher cyclicality; IQV's large pharma focus provides more stability. Both benefit from pharma outsourcing trends.
CRL vs IQV — Charles River Laboratories (preclinical drug discovery and safety testing for biotech and pharma, biotech funding cycle exposure, NHP supply chain challenges) versus IQVIA Holdings (world's largest CRO with $30B+ clinical trial backlog, healthcare data and AI analytics, large pharma customer stability).
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
IQV holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CRL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+27.54% vs +8.87%), though IQV trades at the lower forward P/E (12.78x vs 15.23x). On fundamentals, IQV is growing revenue faster (8.40%), while CRL maintains the higher operating margin (15.92%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for IQV (+25.07%) than for CRL (+13.20%).
Normalized 1Y performance
CRL
IQV
Recent returns
CRL
IQV
Analyst price targets & sentiment
CRL
Price target range
analyst mean$212.27
current price$185.00
+13.2% upside to analyst mean
IQV · 19 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.7/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$160.00
analyst high$268.00
analyst mean$226.95
current price$167.77
+25.1% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
CRL may suit investors who:
- →want exposure to the biotech recovery cycle — when biotech funding rebounds, CRL's preclinical services demand inflects rapidly from trough levels
- →believe the 2022-2023 biotech funding drought was cyclical rather than structural — CRL's essential preclinical services see pent-up demand when biotech spending resumes
- →are comfortable with biotech funding cycle exposure in exchange for exposure to every drug program's mandatory preclinical stage (no drug bypasses CRL's services)
- →value CRL's diversified 300+ customer base reducing single-customer dependency vs large pharma CRO relationships
IQV may suit investors who:
- →want more stable CRO exposure through large pharma clinical trial management with $30B+ backlog providing 2-3 year revenue visibility
- →value IQV's healthcare data and AI analytics business as a structural growth driver beyond clinical trial management — proprietary 1B+ patient record database creates durable competitive advantage
- →prefer later-stage clinical research exposure (Phase I-IV trials) vs CRL's earlier-stage preclinical exposure — clinical trials represent larger budget commitments from more capitalized pharma companies
- →are positive on pharma outsourcing trends — drug companies outsource more R&D functions to CROs, and IQV is best positioned to capture this structural shift
Performance & AI score
| Metric | CRL | IQV |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 38.4 | 51.2 |
| AI rank | #1289 | #391 |
| Latest close | $185.00 | $167.77 |
| 1M return | +21.37% | -3.12% |
| 6M return | -5.60% | -24.23% |
| 1Y return | +27.54% | +8.87% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CRL | IQV |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.73K (+27.3%) started 2025-06-18 | $10.85K (+8.5%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $5.13K (-48.7%) started 2021-06-21 | $6.89K (-31.1%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $22.32K (+123.2%) started 2016-06-20 | $26.34K (+163.4%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | CRL | IQV |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $9.03B | $30.29B |
| Trailing P/E | N/A | 22.51 |
| Forward P/E | 15.23 | 12.78 |
| Price/Sales | N/A | 1.70 |
| EV/Revenue | 2.97 | 2.68 |
| Analyst target | $212.27 | $226.95 |
| Target upside | +13.20% | +25.07% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | CRL | IQV |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 1.20% | 8.40% |
| Earnings growth | -17.30% | 15.00% |
| EPS growth | -17.30% | +15.00% |
| FCF margin | +12.66% | +12.97% |
| Operating margin | 15.92% | 13.61% |
| Profit margin | -4.58% | 8.33% |
| ROIC proxy | -5.87% | 22.49% |
| Return on equity | -5.87% | 22.49% |
| Dividend yield | N/A | N/A |
| Beta | 1.45 | 1.22 |
| Debt/equity | 102.55 | 255.43 |
| Current ratio | 1.36 | 0.75 |
| Quick ratio | 0.82 | 0.66 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
CRL max drawdown33.88%
IQV max drawdown35.87%
CRL max wkly drop17.68%
IQV max wkly drop23.20%
5Y risk snapshot
CRL max drawdown78.23%
IQV max drawdown51.52%
CRL max wkly drop29.10%
IQV max wkly drop23.20%
10Y risk snapshot
CRL max drawdown78.23%
IQV max drawdown51.52%
CRL max wkly drop29.10%
IQV max wkly drop28.34%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | CRL | IQV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +27.33% | +8.51% |
| CAGR | +27.38% | +8.52% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.67 | 0.29 | |
| Max drawdown | 33.88% | 35.87% | |
| Max daily drop | 10.25% | 11.88% | |
| Max wkly drop | 17.68% | 23.20% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -48.70% | -31.09% |
| CAGR | -12.51% | -7.19% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.20 | -0.19 | |
| Max drawdown | 78.23% | 51.52% | |
| Max daily drop | 28.13% | 11.88% | |
| Max wkly drop | 29.10% | 23.20% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +123.19% | +163.42% |
| CAGR | +8.36% | +10.18% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.29 | 0.32 | |
| Max drawdown | 78.23% | 51.52% | |
| Max daily drop | 28.13% | 16.54% | |
| Max wkly drop | 29.10% | 28.34% |
Business comparison
| Category | CRL | IQV |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Charles River Laboratories International Inc. | IQVIA Holdings Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | N/A | Diagnostics & Research |
| Core business | Charles River Laboratories provides early-stage drug discovery and development services to pharmaceutical, biotech, and government clients. Core segments: Research Models & Services (laboratory animals for research — mice, rats, non-human primates; cell banks), Discovery & Safety Assessment (drug toxicology, pharmacology, safety testing), and Manufacturing Solutions (testing for biopharma manufacturing — endotoxin testing, cell therapy testing). Charles River sits at the earliest stage of drug development — before clinical trials. Biotech funding dependency makes CRL sensitive to venture capital and biotech IPO market cycles. | IQVIA is the world's largest CRO (contract research organization) and healthcare information business. Three segments: Technology & Analytics Solutions (healthcare data, real-world evidence, AI analytics), Research & Development Solutions (clinical trial management — Phase I-IV clinical trials, patient recruitment, regulatory submissions), and Contract Sales & Medical Solutions (commercial sales force outsourcing, medical communications). IQVIA manages clinical trials for major pharmaceutical and biotech companies across all therapeutic areas and geographies. Unlike CRL's preclinical focus, IQV manages clinical-stage trials — later and more capital-intensive research stages. |
| Investor focus | Investors focus on CRL's biotech customer funding environment (venture capital and biotech public company spending drive CRL demand), drug safety assessment backlog and capacity utilization, and non-human primate (NHP) supply chain normalization after COVID-related disruptions. | Investors focus on IQV's backlog growth (clinical trial bookings), book-to-bill ratio (new bookings vs revenue consumed), large pharma spending on clinical trials, AI-driven trial optimization, and real-world evidence data business growth. |
CRL strengths
- →Essential early drug development infrastructure: no drug gets to clinical trials without preclinical safety testing — CRL's services are required for every drug, creating recurring demand regardless of therapeutic area
- →Biotech small company focus: serving 300+ biotech companies creates diversification — no single customer represents >5% of revenue
- →Integrated early-stage services: CRL provides discovery to IND (Investigational New Drug filing) services — clients can use CRL for their entire preclinical program
IQV strengths
- →$30B+ clinical trial backlog provides 2-3 year revenue visibility: IQV's massive backlog of contracted clinical trials ensures long-term revenue visibility regardless of short-term booking fluctuations
- →Healthcare data and AI integration: IQV's proprietary healthcare data (covering 1B+ patient records globally) combined with AI analytics creates competitive advantages in patient recruitment, site selection, and regulatory strategy
- →Large pharma customer mix: IQV serves all major pharma companies running late-stage clinical trials — more stable customer base than CRL's biotech-dependent customer mix
Risks to watch — CRL
- →Biotech funding dependency: when biotech startups lose funding, CRL is among the first vendors to see spending cuts — 2022-2023 biotech funding drought severely impacted CRL
- →Non-human primate supply challenges: FDA-required NHP studies were disrupted by Cambodian NHP export restrictions and COVID-related supply chain issues — NHP costs increased significantly
- →Price-sensitive biotech customers: early-stage biotech clients have limited funds and negotiate pricing aggressively — less pricing power vs pharma clients with larger budgets
Risks to watch — IQV
- →Large pharma R&D budget sensitivity: if major pharma companies cut R&D spending (due to drug failures, patent cliffs, pricing pressure), IQV's clinical trial backlog growth slows
- →Competition from PPD, Syneos, PRA: clinical trial management is competitive with multiple large CROs competing for the same clinical trial contracts
- →GLP-1 and weight loss drug clinical trial boom may not sustain: the surge in obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disease trials driving recent bookings represents a single therapeutic cycle that may not sustain at current pace
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