Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc vs Lamb Weston Holdings Inc — how do they compare? Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc trades at $287.27 (market cap $13.46B), while Lamb Weston Holdings Inc trades at $53.25 (market cap $7.23B). The key difference: Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc is the larger of the two by market cap, and Lamb Weston Holdings Inc pays a 2.89% dividend while Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CRL | LW | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $13.46B | $7.23B |
Sector | Health | Consumer Staples |
52-Week High | $282.00 | $66.57 |
52-Week Low | $145.57 | $38.48 |
Enterprise Value | $16.30B | $11.10B |
Dividend Yield | — | 2.89% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) trades at $286.36, up 3.38% today and near its 52-week high of $277.07. The stock shows strong technical momentum with bullish moving averages and has beaten earnings estimates for three consecutive quarters. Recent Q2 2026 results exceeded expectations with EPS of $3.02 versus $2.77 estimate, driving positive sentiment. However, valuation metrics remain elevated with P/E at 684.85 and negative profitability margins.
While technical indicators and analyst consensus (72% buy ratings) support near-term upside, fundamental concerns persist with negative net income margin (-5.96%) and ROE (-7.7%). The stock faces execution risks in maintaining earnings momentum amid competitive pressures. Current price exceeds consensus target of $277.29, suggesting limited near-term upside potential despite positive business inflection.
Lamb Weston (LW) trades at $53.04, up 2.37% today, near its consensus price target of $53.86. The stock shows a bullish technical trend with consistent earnings beats in recent quarters, including Q2 2026 EPS of $0.87 versus $0.626 expected. Revenue reached $6.45 billion in 2025, though net income margin declined to 4.39%. Analyst sentiment is mixed with 31.58% buy ratings, while institutional investors like Dimensional Fund Advisors increased holdings by 28.1% in Q1 2026 (SEC filing, 2026-07-29).
The outlook is cautiously optimistic given operational improvements and cost savings, but risks include international demand pressures and elevated costs. The stock offers a 3.1% dividend yield, with fiscal 2027 guidance projecting 1%-2% sales growth. Further upside depends on sustaining North American volume growth and margin stabilization amid macroeconomic headwinds.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Charles River Laboratories was founded in 1947 and is a leading provider of drug discovery and development services. The company's research model & services segment is the leading provider of animal models for laboratory testing, which breeds and delivers animal research models with specific genetic characteristics for preclinical studies around the world. The discovery & safety assessment segment includes services required to take a drug through the early development process, including discovery services. The manufacturing support segment includes microbial solutions, which provides in vitro (non-animal) testing products, biologics testing services, and avian vaccine services.
Read more on CRL →Lamb Weston is the world's second-largest producer of branded and private-label frozen potato products, such as French fries, sweet potato fries, tater tots, diced potatoes, mashed potatoes, hash browns, and chips. The company also has a small appetizer business that produces onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and cheese curds. Including joint ventures, 63% of fiscal 2022 revenue was U.S.-based, with the remainder stemming from Europe, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Mexico, and several other countries. Lamb Weston's customer mix is estimated 58% quick-serve restaurants, 19% full-service restaurants, 8% other food services (hotels, commercial cafeterias, arenas, schools), and 16% retail. Lamb Weston became an independent company in 2016 when it was spun off from Conagra.
Read more on LW →