Shares of Charles River Laboratories International Inc. CRL tumbled 10.1% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the provider of contract research services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies disclosed that it was subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice related to non-human primate (NHP) supply chain, and provided a downbeat profit outlook for 2023. The company said it was informed that the DOJ investigation relates to several shipments of NHPs received by the company from its Cambodian supplier. “Due to ongoing investigations and the heightened focus on the Cambodian NHP supply chain in recent months, Charles River has voluntarily suspended NHP shipments from Cambodia at this time,” the company said in a statement. The company reported fourth-quarter net income that rose to $187.4 million, or $3.65 a share, from $137.6 million, or $2.67 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $2.98 beat the FactSet consensus of $2.75. Revenue grew 21.5% to $1.10 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.04 billion. For 2023, the company expects adjusted EPS of $9.70 to $10.90, below the FactSet consensus of $11.37, as NHP supply constraints hurt results. Revenue is expected to grow 1.5% to 4.5% in 2023, while the FactSet revenue consensus of $4.12 billion implies 3.5% growth. The stock has edged up 0.6% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 SPX has edged down 0.2%.
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