Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Charles River (CRAI) Stock Up 106.1% Year to Date: Here's Why

Read MoreHide Full Article

Shares of Charles River Associates (CRAI - Free Report) have returned 106.1%, outperforming the 26.3% growth of the industry it belongs to in the said time frame.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let’s delve into the factors that have contributed to the company’s price performance:

Upbeat 2021 Guidance

Charles River has raised its full-year 2021 guidance. The company now expects 2021 constant-currency revenues to be between $565 million and $575 million, compared with the previous expectation of $550 million to $570 million. Non-GAAP EBITDA margin is now anticipated in the band of 11.2% to 11.7%, compared with the earlier guidance of 10% to 10.5%.

Consecutive Earnings & Revenue Beat

Charles River reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue performance in the last five quarters. While improvement in operational performance has been aiding the company’s bottom line, strength across the company’s Antitrust & Competition Economics, Auctions & Competitive Bidding, Energy, Financial Economics, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Marakon, and Risk, Investigations & Analytics practices benefited the top line.

Solid International Presence

Charles River Associates operates through a global network of coordinated offices spread across North America and Europe. The company’s international presence provides it the opportunity to work with the world’s leading professionals on multiple issues. This helps the company enhance its knowledge base and areas of functional expertise. The majority of the company’s clients are multinational firms facing complicated issues. We believe that Charles River’s international operations help expand its geographic footprint and contribute significantly to the top line

Diversified Business Model

Charles River has a diversified business with service offerings across areas of functional expertise, client base and geographical regions. Being proficient in multiple industries helps the company meet varying client needs and offer other innovative services. Moreover, the company gets to know about business strategies adopted across the world. This multidisciplinary set up enables it to bring experts from numerous fields under one platform. The diversification in its business helps reduce the company’s dependence on any specific market, industry or geographic area. It also increases the company’s ability to adapt to changing conditions.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Charles River currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are NV5 Global, Inc. (NVEE - Free Report) , ManpowerGroup (MAN - Free Report) and Avis Budget (CAR - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present.

The long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for NV5 Global, ManpowerGroupand Avis Budget is pegged at 16.1%, 24.2% and 27.5%, respectively.

Published in