Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc vs Zscaler Inc — how do they compare? Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc trades at $288.87 (market cap $13.46B), while Zscaler Inc trades at $177 (market cap $28.87B). The key difference: Zscaler Inc is far larger — about 2.1× Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc's market cap, and Charles River Laboratories Intl. Inc is trading nearer its 52-week high, Zscaler Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CRL | ZS | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $13.46B | $28.87B |
Sector | Health | Technology |
52-Week High | $282.00 | $336.27 |
52-Week Low | $145.57 | $118.05 |
Enterprise Value | $16.30B | $27.20B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) trades at $284.37, up 2.66% today and near its 52-week high, reflecting strong bullish momentum. The stock has consistently beaten earnings estimates in recent quarters, including a Q2 2026 EPS of $3.02 versus $2.77 expected, and the company raised its full-year guidance. Despite negative net income margins, operating cash flow remains robust at $738 million in 2025. Analyst sentiment is overwhelmingly positive with 26 buy ratings and a consensus price target of $277.29.
The outlook is supported by improving biotech demand and cost controls, but high valuation multiples and recent insider selling pose risks. Earnings growth and margin expansion are key catalysts, though profitability challenges and macroeconomic sensitivity could pressure the stock. Investors should weigh strong technicals and analyst support against fundamental weaknesses and execution risks.
Zscaler (ZS) trades at $176.94, up 0.15% with strong bullish technical signals and positive analyst sentiment. The stock shows consistent revenue growth from $1.1B in 2022 to $2.67B in 2025, though it remains unprofitable with a -2.44% net margin. Recent earnings beats and leadership in Gartner Magic Quadrant for SASE platforms highlight operational strength. Current price sits near resistance at $177 with RSI indicating overbought conditions.
Outlook remains positive with 79% analyst buy ratings and $191.81 consensus target, but risks include negative profitability, high valuation multiples (P/S 8.94), and projected negative cash flow in 2026. The cybersecurity leader benefits from AI-driven security demand but faces execution risks amid competitive pressures.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
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 →Zscaler is a security-as-a-service firm that offers its customers cloud-delivered solutions for protecting user devices and data. The firm leverages its position in 150 colocation data centers to deliver traditionally appliance-based security functionality, such as firewalls and sandboxes, as a completely cloud-native platform. The firm focuses on large enterprise customers and offers two primary product suites: Zscaler Internet Access, which securely connects users to externally managed application and websites (such as Salesforce and Google), and Zscaler Private Access, which securely connects users to internally managed applications. Both product suites encompass a broad gamut of capabilities situated across the traditional security stack.
Read more on ZS →