Avantor vs Charles River Laboratories
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The short version
- Avantor is the larger business, with $6.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.0B for Charles River Laboratories, about 1.6 times as much.
- Charles River Laboratories grew revenue faster (−0.9%, against −3.4%).
- Charles River Laboratories kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (0.6% operating margin, against −3.8%).
- Charles River Laboratories turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.9% FCF margin, against 7.6%).
- Charles River Laboratories earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (0.4%, against −2.1%).
| Latest fiscal year | AVTR · FY25 | CRL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $11.7B | $16.6B |
| Revenue | $6.6B | $4.0B |
| Free cash flow | $495M | $518M |
| Net income | −$530M | −$144M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −3.4% | −0.9% |
| 5-year growth | 0.5% | 6.6% |
| Share count change | −0.2% | −4.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 32.7% | — |
| Operating margin | −3.8% | 0.6% |
| Net margin | −8.1% | −3.6% |
| FCF margin | 7.6% | 12.9% |
| Return on capital | −2.1% | 0.4% |
| Return on equity | −9.2% | −4.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.6B | $1.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 22.0x | 4.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $75.1M | $361M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
AVTR —
CRL $1.7B
FY17
AVTR $1.2B
CRL $1.9B
FY18
AVTR $5.9B
CRL $2.3B
FY19
AVTR $6.0B
CRL $2.6B
FY20
AVTR $6.4B
CRL $2.9B
FY21
AVTR $7.4B
CRL $3.5B
FY22
AVTR $7.5B
CRL $4.0B
FY23
AVTR $7.0B
CRL $4.1B
FY24
AVTR $6.8B
CRL $4.1B
FY25
AVTR $6.6B
CRL $4.0B
AVTR
CRL
Operating margin
FY16
AVTR —
CRL 14.1%
FY17
AVTR −16.9%
CRL 15.5%
FY18
AVTR 7.1%
CRL 14.6%
FY19
AVTR 9.1%
CRL 13.4%
FY20
AVTR 11.1%
CRL 14.8%
FY21
AVTR 13.2%
CRL 16.7%
FY22
AVTR 15.0%
CRL 16.4%
FY23
AVTR 10.0%
CRL 15.0%
FY24
AVTR 16.0%
CRL 5.6%
FY25
AVTR −3.8%
CRL 0.6%
AVTR
CRL
Free cash flow
FY16
AVTR —
CRL $262M
FY17
AVTR −$193M
CRL $236M
FY18
AVTR $163M
CRL $301M
FY19
AVTR $302M
CRL $340M
FY20
AVTR $868M
CRL $380M
FY21
AVTR $843M
CRL $532M
FY22
AVTR $710M
CRL $295M
FY23
AVTR $724M
CRL $365M
FY24
AVTR $692M
CRL $502M
FY25
AVTR $495M
CRL $518M
AVTR
CRL
Return on capital
FY16
AVTR —
CRL 10.1%
FY17
AVTR —
CRL 7.5%
FY18
AVTR —
CRL 11.4%
FY19
AVTR 9.2%
CRL 9.8%
FY20
AVTR 9.6%
CRL 9.9%
FY21
AVTR 8.1%
CRL 11.1%
FY22
AVTR 8.4%
CRL 9.9%
FY23
AVTR 5.1%
CRL 8.9%
FY24
AVTR 8.9%
CRL 2.0%
FY25
AVTR −2.1%
CRL 0.4%
AVTR
CRL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.