Charles River Laboratories is likely to rally as it shows signs of leveraging a comeback in biotechnology investments to strengthen its contract research organization business, according to JPMorgan. The investment bank upgraded the drug researcher to overweight from neutral. It also hiked its 12-month price target on the stock to $310 from $180, implying 19% upside from Wednesday's close, when Charles River soared more than 11% in response to its latest results. "CRL delivered strong 2Q results while raising 2026 guidance on the back of a 1.19 [Discovery and Safety Assessment book to bill ratio," analyst Casey Woodring wrote Wednesday in a report to clients. "Stepping back, following the strong bookings/proposals in 2Q, it is clear that CRL is seeing sustainable momentum in DSA on the back of healthy biotech funding and large pharma activity levels, which lends itself to more visible top- and bottom-line growth moving forward," the analyst said. Charles River posted second-quarter earnings of $3.02 per share excluding some items, topping the $2.74 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. It also saw $1 billion in revenue, or more than the Street's consensus estimate of $977.2 million. Wilmington, Massachusetts-based Charles River also raised its 2026 earnings forecast to a range of $11.15 to $11.45, up from prior guidance of $10.80 to $11.30. Strong results are benefiting from a resurgence in biotechnology investment, driving up Charles River shares by more than 43% in just the past three months, according to FactSet data. Global biotech funding reached $11.9 billion in 88 deals in the first half of the year, up from $8.0 billion raised 64 deals in the year-ago period, according to a July report from market research firm New Market Pitch. JPMorgan's call matches the consensus on Wall Street. Of 19 analysts covering Charles River, 14 rate it a buy or strong buy, LSEG data shows.