Charles River Associates At A 52-Week High: What's Aiding It?

Shares of Charles River Associates (NASDAQ:CRAI) scaled a new 52-week high of $55.21 in the trading session on Dec 12, before closing a tad lower at $55.01.

The company’s shares have charted a solid trajectory in recent times, appreciating 29.3% year to date compared with the 34.2% growth of the industry it belongs to.

Notably, Charles River has witnessed an 11.7% rise in share price since it posted third-quarter 2019 results.

Let’s find out what’s supporting the uptick.

Consecutive Earnings Beat

Charles River reported back-to-back earnings beat in the second and third quarters of 2019. The company’s bottom line continued to gain from improved operational efficiency. Moreover, strength across the company’s Antitrust & Competition Economics, Auctions & Competitive Bidding, Forensic Services, Intellectual Property, and Life Sciences practices are benefiting the stock.

Upbeat 2019 Revenue Guidance

Charles River raised its revenue guidance for 2019. The company now expects revenues of $446-$452 million compared with the prior guided range of $430-$445 million. The raised guidance is above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $443.639 million.

Solid Global Presence

Charles River’s strong global presence is contributing significantly to top-line growth. The company has a vast global network of coordinated offices across North America and Europeand it works with world’s leading professionals on multiple issues. Notably, Charles River earned 21% of total revenues from its businesses outside the United States in the first nine months of 2019, which grew 7.6% year over year.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Currently, Charles River sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) , Cardtronics (NASDAQ:CATM) and FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) . While Global Payments and Cardtronics sport a Zacks Rank #1, FactSet Research Systems carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for Global Payments, Cardtronics and FactSet Research Systems is 18%, 4% and 9%, respectively.

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