Charles River Laboratories raises annual profit forecast on stabilizing biotech demand
Nov 6 (Reuters) -Charles River Laboratories CRL.N raised its full-year profit forecast after beating analysts' estimates for quarterly results as the contract research firm expects demand to stabilize from biotech clients for its drug discovery and development services.
The company's shares were up 14% to $215.06 before the bell on Wednesday.
Contract research organizations have been seeing reduced spending from biotech clients since the past year, but recent interest rate cuts could improve the funding environment for biotechs.
Overall demand trends from larger drugmakers do not appear to have deteriorated further, Charles River CEO James Foster said.
In the second quarter, the company said bookings and proposals from larger drugmakers declined as they reprioritized development pipelines due to potential impacts from the U.S. government's drug price negotiation program.
Funding for smaller biotech firms has improved in 2024 and demand appears to be showing early signs of stabilization, Foster said, adding that the factors resulted in a slight improvement in orders and cancellations for Charles River's services.
Charles River now expects 2024 adjusted profit between $10.10 and $10.30 per share, compared with its prior forecast range of $9.90 to $10.20 per share.
The company also forecast full-year revenue to now decrease 2% to 3%, versus previous expectations of it falling 2.5% to 4.5%.
Charles River's third-quarter revenue fell 1.6% to $1.01 billion, but beat the average analyst estimate of $976 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company's drug manufacturing and research model services segments, which are smaller in size, reported revenue growth of 12% and 5.9%, respectively, helping the company offset a decline in its main business.
On an adjusted basis, Charles River earned $2.59 per share, beating estimates of $2.43.
Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta
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