Charles River Gears Up to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

Charles River Associates CRAI is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on May 7, before the opening bell.

The company’s earnings surprise history has been impressive. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 8.2% on average.

Charles River Associates Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Charles River Associates price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Charles River Associates Quote

CRAI’s Q1 Expectations

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the top line is pegged at $193.3 million, implying 6.3% growth over the year-ago quarter’s actual.

Multiple factors are likely to have boosted the top line. Strong demand for specialized advisory services, coupled with high-quality consultation assistance, is likely to have led to improved revenues. Robust global market growth and geographic diversification are likely to have further supported revenue growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate of revenues from the United States is pegged at $162.1 million, indicating 8.3% year-over-year growth. The consensus estimate of the United Kingdom’s revenues is pegged at $24 million, suggesting a rise of 3.8% from the year-ago quarter’s actual. Other revenues are estimated at 5.6 million, indicating a 37.6% year-over-year decline.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is $2.02, indicating a 9% year-over-year decline from the year-ago quarter’s actual. We expect expanded margins, driven by controlled human capital management expenses, to have improved the bottom line.

Q1 Earnings Beat Seems Likely for CRAI

Our proven model predicts a likely earnings beat for CRAI this time around. A positive Earnings ESP combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Charles River Associates has an Earnings ESP of +8.06% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are a few other stocks from the broader Business Services sector, which, according to our model, also have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

Corpay, Inc. CPAY has an Earnings ESP of +0.57% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to declare its first-quarter 2026 results on May 7.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CPAY’s first-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $1.21 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 20.1%. For earnings, the consensus mark is pegged at $5.50 per share, implying a 22% rise from the year-ago quarter’s actual. Corpay beat the consensus estimate in three of the last four reported quarters and matched once, delivering an earnings surprise of 0.8% on average.

Story Continues

FIS FIS has an Earnings ESP of +0.17% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to declare its first-quarter 2026 results on May 8.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FIS’ first-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $3.27 billion, indicating 29.3% year-over-year growth. The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.28 per share, implying year-over-year growth of 5.8%. FIS beat the consensus estimate in two of the last four reported quarters, matched once and missed once, with an average earnings surprise of 0.6%.

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Charles River Associates (CRAI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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