CRL vs ICLR vs DNA Stock Comparison

Charles River Laboratories International, Icon and Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ICLR Icon Plc
$201.65 +24.7% 1M +23.2% 1Y
Market cap
$16.06B
P/E
35.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Icon leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Icon 7, Charles River Laboratories International 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRLICLRDNALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.16B $16.06B $699.49M CRL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 402.1x 35.8x -2.4x ICLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.7x 19.7x — ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.2% +1.8% -46.8% ICLR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.0% 5.4% -260.0% ICLR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% 4.7% — ICLR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.1x 2.3x — ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +86.7% +23.2% -14.2% CRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.6%/yr -5.4%/yr -55.3%/yr CRL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.0% 74.9% 105.5% CRL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 81/100 40/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

CRLICLRDNA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCRLICLRDNA
Valuation 70 #4 of 11 100 #1 of 11 10 #10 of 11
Growth 20 #9 of 11 70 #4 of 11 50 #6 of 11
Profitability 70 #4 of 11 80 #3 of 11 10 #10 of 11
Financial Health 58 #6 of 13 75 #4 of 13 92 #2 of 13
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 55 81 40
  • CRL ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • DNA ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCRLICLRDNASPY
1 month +2.6%+24.7%-19.8% -5.9%
3 months +17.9%+25.1%+17.2% -4.6%
6 months +72.4%+61.3%-3.6% +0.2%
Year to date +57.0%+10.7%+19.7% +7.5%
1 year +86.7%+23.2%-14.2% +8.2%
3 years +72.6%-21.8%-83.6% +68.3%
3 years, per year +20.0%-7.9%-45.3% +19.0%
5 years -16.5%-24.2%-98.2% +56.5%
5 years, per year -3.6%-5.4%-55.3% +9.4%
10 years +359.2%+163.8%— +251.5%
10 years, per year +16.5%+10.2%— +13.4%

Risk

MeasureCRLICLRDNASPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.0%74.9%105.5% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.9%86.9%107.8% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.221.303.22 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.850.31-0.13 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -74.7%-76.9%-99.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.7%-6.4%-33.6% -5.9%
52-week high $375.83$215.48$14.98 $779.14
52-week low $149.93$80.08$5.48 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCRLICLRDNA
P/E now vs peer median 372.5xmedian 34.8x 35.2xmedian 34.8x -2.1xmedian 34.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 2.5x 1.9xmedian 2.5x 5.7xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 38.8xmedian 28.8x 16.5xmedian 28.8x -2.3xmedian 28.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 37.5xmedian 21.0x 18.0xmedian 21.0x -3.6xmedian 21.0x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.7x 1.7xmedian 2.7x 1.5xmedian 2.7x
PEG now vs peer median -6.75median 1.96 -11.76median 1.96 0.02median 1.96

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCRLICLRDNA
Revenue $3.98B $8.23B $111.86M
Gross profit $1.33B $1.93B $92.92M
Operating income $158.98M $718.25M -$290.69M
Net income $39.65M $448.66M -$290.80M
Free cash flow $399.63M $857.06M -$174.80M
R&D – – $215.61M
EPS (diluted) $0.83 $5.68 $-5.24
Cash & equivalents $200.38M $808.98M $84.54M
Total debt $2.44B $3.38B –
Shares (diluted) 48.58M 78.97M 55.46M
Enterprise value $15.36B $12.83B -$62.59M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCRLICLRDNA
P/E 372.5x 35.2x -2.1x
P/FCF 37.5x 18.0x -3.6x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 15.0x -3.7x
P/S 3.8x 1.9x 5.7x
P/B 4.6x 1.7x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 5.0x 2.6x 1.7x
EV/EBITDA 38.8x 16.5x -2.3x
EV/EBIT 108.4x 25.1x -1.9x
EV/Revenue 4.3x 2.2x 4.9x
EV/FCF 43.1x 21.0x -3.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.7x 17.5x -3.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -6.75 -11.76 0.02

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRLICLRDNA
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.2% 1.8% -46.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.9% 0.9% -30.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.1% -13.4% -49.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.8% -6.5% -28.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.8% 53.9% 2.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.4% -7.0% 39.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 149.8% 55.9% 7.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -56.5% -4.4% 38.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 149.0% 30.1% 8.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -55.2% -3.0% -102.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -17.0% -9.9% 28.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.7% 15.8% 16.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -26.5% -11.1% 36.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 18.4% 22.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRLICLRDNA
Gross margin 33.3% 23.4% 83.1%
EBITDA margin 11.2% 13.3% -211.6%
Operating margin 4.0% 8.7% -259.9%
Pretax margin -2.5% 6.3% -264.1%
Net margin 1.0% 5.4% -260.0%
FCF margin 10.0% 10.4% -156.3%
Operating cash flow margin 15.7% 12.5% -152.2%
Return on equity 1.4% 7.6% -67.4%
Return on assets 0.6% 4.3% -28.7%
Return on invested capital 0.0% 4.7% –
Return on capital employed 2.5% 5.3% -31.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.7x 2.3x 0.6x
Stock comp / revenue 2.0% 1.1% 61.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRLICLRDNA
Debt / assets 32.8% 20.8% –
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 5.1x 2.3x –
Debt / FCF 6.1x 3.9x –
Liabilities / assets 56.6% 43.8% 57.5%
Equity / assets 43.4% 56.2% 42.5%
Interest coverage 1.5x 3.4x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.3x 4.6x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.9x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 3.13 2.19 -8.75

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRLICLRDNA
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 2.0% 2.5% –
Shareholder yield 2.0% 2.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCRLICLRDNA
Forward P/E 28.7xFY2026 19.7xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $10.90FY2026 $10.26FY2026 $-4.06FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.0%FY2026 -18.1%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% +20.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.82BFY2026 $8.54BFY2026 $88.21MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.9%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 -48.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.7% -2.2% +5.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRLICLRDNA
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 67.2%
Institutions holding 571 424 183
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.7% +5.5% +12.3%
Institutions buying 271 233 100
Institutions selling 204 139 39
Buyers to sellers 1.33 1.68 2.56

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CRLICLRDNA
CRL 1.00 0.51 0.37
ICLR 0.51 1.00 0.24
DNA 0.37 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CRL, ICLR and DNA?

Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) $16.16B, Icon (ICLR) $16.06B, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) $699.49M.

Which stock is cheaper, CRL, ICLR and DNA?

Icon (ICLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 402.1x, Icon (ICLR) 35.8x, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -2.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 28.7x, Icon (ICLR) 19.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Icon (ICLR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -1.2%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -46.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Icon (ICLR) has the highest net margin (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 1.0%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -260.0%). On return on invested capital, Icon (ICLR) leads (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 0.0%, Icon (ICLR) 4.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) returned the most: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) +86.7%, Icon (ICLR) +23.2%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -14.2%. Over five years, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) compounded fastest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -3.6%/yr, Icon (ICLR) -5.4%/yr, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -55.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) has been the steadiest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 47.0%, Icon (ICLR) 74.9%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) 105.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CRL, ICLR and DNA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Icon (ICLR) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.