Data as of:
LIVE
CRL
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. · Healthcare - Preclinical Research Services
$278.06
-4.12% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
MEDP
Medpace Holdings, Inc. · Healthcare - Clinical Research Services
$612.33
+0.67% this month
Comparison scoreboard
MEDP LEADS 3/5AI Scorei
CRL 47.0
MEDP ✓60.0
1Y Returni
CRL ✓+77.12%
MEDP +21.99%
Fwd P/Ei
CRL ✓22.74
MEDP 30.60
Target Up.i
CRL -2.60%
MEDP ✓-1.53%
Op. Margini
CRL 15.11%
MEDP ✓20.76%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/19/2026
Quick take
CRL vs MEDP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
CRL (Charles River Laboratories) and MEDP (Medpace) are both contract research organizations serving pharmaceutical and biotech drug development but at different stages and with different client mixes — Charles River focuses on preclinical (early-stage, before human trials) research services including safety testing and research models alongside manufacturing testing, while Medpace specializes in Phase I-III clinical trials (human trials) for smaller biotech companies with complex therapeutic area programs.
CRL vs MEDP is diversified preclinical and early-stage drug development services (Charles River's breadth across research models, safety assessment, and manufacturing support creating diverse revenue across the full preclinical pipeline) versus specialized biotech clinical trial partner (Medpace's focused Phase I-III expertise in complex therapeutic areas commanding premium pricing from small biotech clients) — breadth at early stage versus depth at clinical stage.
Live analysis · updated 9/19/2026
MEDP holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CRL leads on both 1-year return (+77.12%) and forward P/E quality (22.74x vs 30.60x for MEDP), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. MEDP leads on both revenue growth (17.20%) and operating margin (20.76%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: -2.60% for CRL and -1.53% for MEDP.
Normalized 1Y performance
CRL
MEDP
Recent returns
CRL
MEDP
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
CRL
Price target range
analyst mean$281.00
current price$278.06
-2.6% upside to analyst mean
MEDP
Price target range
analyst mean$581.83
current price$612.33
-1.5% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
CRL may suit investors who:
- Want diversified drug development services exposure spanning preclinical safety assessment, research models, and manufacturing support — Charles River's breadth provides revenue resilience when any single category faces headwinds
- Value Charles River's mission-critical safety assessment position as the gatekeeping step all new drugs must pass before human trials, creating structural demand regardless of which drugs ultimately succeed
- Accept sensitivity to biotech funding cycles while believing in the long-term growth of pharmaceutical R&D outsourcing as large pharma companies continue shifting research work to specialized external partners
MEDP may suit investors who:
- Want exposure to a premium-priced, high-margin clinical CRO with strong revenue growth driven by complex clinical trial management for oncology and cardiovascular biotech programs
- Value Medpace's scientific depth and integrated full-service model as creating durable competitive differentiation versus large CROs that compete primarily on scale and cost for commodity clinical trial operations
- Accept the higher volatility from Medpace's small biotech customer concentration and biotech funding sensitivity in exchange for a higher-growth, higher-margin CRO model
Performance & AI score
| Metric | CRL | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 47.0 | 60.0 |
| AI ranki | #680 | #175 |
| Latest closei | $278.06 | $612.33 |
| 1M returni | -4.12% | +0.67% |
| 6M returni | +81.03% | +35.32% |
| 1Y returni | +77.12% | +21.99% |
$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 | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $17.89K (+78.9%) started 2025-09-19 | $12.28K (+22.8%) started 2025-09-19 |
| 5Y ago | $6.42K (-35.8%) started 2021-09-20 | $33.54K (+235.4%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $34.55K (+245.5%) started 2016-09-19 | $200.3K (+1903.0%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | CRL | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $13.9B | $16.49B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 34.72 |
| Forward P/Ei | 22.74 | 30.60 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.17 | 5.72 |
| Analyst targeti | $281.00 | $581.83 |
| Target upsidei | -2.60% | -1.53% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | CRL | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | -2.70% | 17.20% |
| Earnings growthi | -17.30% | 37.10% |
| EPS growthi | -17.30% | +37.10% |
| FCF margini | +11.72% | +18.34% |
| Operating margini | 15.11% | 20.76% |
| Profit margini | -5.96% | 17.66% |
| ROIC proxyi | -7.52% | 162.15% |
| Return on equityi | -7.52% | 162.15% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.41 | 1.15 |
| Debt/equityi | 105.05 | 33.22 |
| Current ratioi | 1.35 | 0.73 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.80 | 0.66 |
Correlation
Over the past year, CRL and MEDP have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.56), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.56
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.52
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.52
-1.0+1.0
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 drawdowni33.88%
MEDP max drawdowni36.61%
CRL max wkly dropi17.68%
MEDP max wkly dropi24.50%
5Y risk snapshot
CRL max drawdowni78.23%
MEDP max drawdowni42.87%
CRL max wkly dropi29.10%
MEDP max wkly dropi24.50%
10Y risk snapshot
CRL max drawdowni78.23%
MEDP max drawdowni42.87%
CRL max wkly dropi29.10%
MEDP max wkly dropi28.82%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | CRL | MEDP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +78.94% | +22.81% |
| CAGRi | +79.25% | +22.88% | |
| Volatilityi | 45.57% | 44.57% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.42 | 0.60 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.22 | 0.79 | |
| Max drawdowni | 33.88% | 36.61% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.87% | 1.36% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.77% | 13.18% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.02% | 17.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.62% | 22.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.68% | 24.50% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -35.79% | +235.43% |
| CAGRi | -8.49% | +27.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 43.74% | 52.03% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.08 | 0.62 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.12 | 1.05 | |
| Max drawdowni | 78.23% | 42.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 39.33% | 1.36% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 52.38% | 15.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 54.03% | 20.31% | |
| Max daily dropi | 28.13% | 22.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 29.10% | 24.50% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +245.54% | +1903.04% |
| CAGRi | +13.20% | +34.96% | |
| Volatilityi | 38.21% | 49.65% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.40 | 0.76 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.57 | 1.15 | |
| Max drawdowni | 78.23% | 42.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 39.33% | 1.36% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 29.11% | 12.92% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 38.65% | 17.08% | |
| Max daily dropi | 28.13% | 30.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 29.10% | 28.82% |
Business comparison
| Category | CRL | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. | Medpace Holdings, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Diagnostics & Research | Diagnostics & Research |
| Core business | Charles River Laboratories provides research services across the full drug development cycle — from early drug discovery support (research models and services, integrated drug discovery) through safety assessment (toxicology studies that determine if a new drug is safe to advance to human trials) to manufacturing support (microbial testing, sterility testing for pharmaceutical manufacturing). Charles River also provides research animal models (mice, rats, and specialized genetic models) that are essential tools for biomedical research. | Medpace is a contract research organization (CRO) specializing in Phase I, II, and III clinical trial management for small and mid-sized pharmaceutical and biotech companies — providing full-service clinical trial management including regulatory strategy, clinical monitoring, data management, biostatistics, and regulatory submission support. Medpace's unique positioning focuses on complex therapeutic areas (oncology, cardiology, metabolic disease, rare disease) where its scientific expertise creates value beyond basic clinical operations. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Charles River's revenue by segment (RMS — Research Models and Services is historically the core; DSA — Discovery and Safety Assessment is the growth driver), the biotech funding environment (smaller biotech clients are more funding-sensitive), pharma and biotech R&D outsourcing trends, and acquisition integration as Charles River has grown through acquisitions. | Investors track Medpace's backlog and new business wins (forward revenue visibility), revenue growth rate (which has been among the highest in the CRO sector), operating margin (among the highest in CRO, reflecting Medpace's differentiated model), and the biotech funding environment as Medpace's core customer base is small-to-mid biotech. |
CRL strengths
- Early-stage drug development dominance — Charles River's safety assessment (toxicology) business is performed before drugs can enter human clinical trials; this creates a structural position in the drug development pipeline that every new drug must pass through
- Proprietary research models — Charles River supplies research animals (including genetically engineered mice for cancer and disease models) to academic researchers and pharmaceutical companies; this commoditized supply relationship creates long-term demand from the research ecosystem
- Diversification across discovery, safety, and manufacturing support — Charles River's breadth allows it to support clients across the entire preclinical development process, creating upsell opportunities and deepening client relationships
MEDP strengths
- Highest CRO operating margins reflecting differentiated scientific expertise — Medpace's focused therapeutic area expertise and integrated service model commands premium pricing versus larger CROs competing primarily on scale and cost
- Full-service model for smaller biotech — Medpace's comprehensive Phase I-III trial support in a single company is particularly valuable to small biotech companies that lack internal clinical operations teams and need a trusted expert partner for their lead drug program
- Scientifically differentiated oncology and cardiology capabilities — Medpace has deep expertise in complex trial designs for oncology (adaptive trials, basket trials) and cardiovascular disease, attracting clients with scientifically demanding programs that require real expertise
Risks to watch — CRL
- Biotech funding cycle sensitivity — Charles River's safety assessment business is more exposed to small-to-mid biotech companies that depend on venture capital and public market funding; biotech funding downturns (as seen in 2022-2023) directly reduce Charles River's order volumes
- Animal welfare regulations and public perception — Charles River's use of laboratory animals in research is regulated and creates reputational risk; expanding regulatory requirements for animal welfare could increase compliance costs
- Competition from IQVIA, Labcorp Drug Development, and other large CROs that have expanded into early-stage research services
Risks to watch — MEDP
- Biotech funding dependency — Medpace's core customers are small and mid-sized biotech companies whose clinical trial spending is directly tied to their venture or public market financing; the 2022-2023 biotech funding drought significantly impacted Medpace's order flows
- Scale limitations versus large CROs — Medpace is significantly smaller than IQVIA or Labcorp Drug Development; very large global Phase III trials requiring hundreds of sites across 50+ countries may require large CRO scale that Medpace struggles to match
- Concentration risk in smaller biotech clients — small biotech clients represent higher credit risk and program discontinuation risk; if a client's drug fails Phase II, the remaining Phase III contract disappears
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