Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.'s (NYSE:CRL) stock was strong despite it releasing a soft earnings report last week. We think that investors might be looking at some positive factors beyond the earnings numbers.

Check out our latest analysis for Charles River Laboratories International

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

To properly understand Charles River Laboratories International's profit results, we need to consider the US$324m expense attributed to unusual items. It's never great to see unusual items costing the company profits, but on the upside, things might improve sooner rather than later. When we analysed the vast majority of listed companies worldwide, we found that significant unusual items are often not repeated. And that's hardly a surprise given these line items are considered unusual. Charles River Laboratories International took a rather significant hit from unusual items in the year to December 2024. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items made its statutory profit significantly weaker than it would otherwise be.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Charles River Laboratories International's Profit Performance

As we discussed above, we think the significant unusual expense will make Charles River Laboratories International's statutory profit lower than it would otherwise have been. Because of this, we think Charles River Laboratories International's underlying earnings potential is as good as, or possibly even better, than the statutory profit makes it seem! Unfortunately, though, its earnings per share actually fell back over the last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Charles River Laboratories International has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Charles River Laboratories International's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.