Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc vs Lamb Weston Holdings Inc — how do they compare? Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc trades at $229.77 (market cap $11.14B), while Lamb Weston Holdings Inc trades at $46.01 (market cap $6.42B). The key difference: Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc is the larger of the two by market cap, and Lamb Weston Holdings Inc pays a 3.27% dividend while Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CRL | LW | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $11.14B | $6.42B |
Sector | Health | Consumer Staples |
52-Week High | $233.60 | $66.57 |
52-Week Low | $145.57 | $38.48 |
Enterprise Value | $14.00B | $10.38B |
Dividend Yield | — | 3.27% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) trades at $229.75, down 1.57% on the day, near its consensus price target of $229.80. The stock shows a bullish technical trend with strong moving average signals and support at $225. Fundamentally, CRL has beaten EPS estimates for three consecutive quarters but reported a net loss of $144.34 million in 2025, with negative profit margins. Recent news highlights collaborations in AI and NGS services, supporting growth prospects.
Outlook remains mixed: analyst consensus is strongly bullish with 72% buy ratings and a high target of $260, but profitability challenges and high P/E of 684.85 pose risks. Cash flow stability and strategic partnerships offer upside, while margin pressures and debt levels require monitoring for sustained recovery.
Lamb Weston (LW) trades at $46.98, up 1.14% with a bullish technical signal and consistent earnings beats. The company shows strong operational cash flow of $868.3M in 2025 and maintains positive revenue growth, though net income margin declined to 4.61%. Recent news highlights the 'Focus to Win' strategy showing early traction with North America volume gains and cost savings.
Outlook remains cautiously optimistic with analyst consensus price target of $49.33 offering 5% upside. Key risks include ongoing securities litigation and margin pressure from competitive dynamics. Institutional sentiment leans positive with activist involvement signaling potential value creation opportunities.
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 →