Shares of Charles River AssociatesCRAI have returned 44% over the past year, outperforming 34.7% growth of the industry it belongs to in the said time frame.

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Let’s delve into factors that have contributed to the company’s price performance:

Consecutive Earnings & Revenue Beat

Charles River reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue performance in four of the last five quarters. While improvement in operational performance has been aiding the company’s bottom line, strength across its Antitrust & Competition Economics, Auctions & Competitive Bidding, Energy, Financial Economics, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Marakon, and Risk, Investigations & Analytics practices benefited the top line.

Solid International Presence

Charles River operates through a global network of coordinated offices spread across North America and Europe. The company’s international presence provides it the opportunity to work with the world’s leading professionals on multiple issues. This helps the company enhance its knowledge base and areas of functional expertise. The majority of the company’s clients are multinational firms facing complicated issues. We believe that Charles River’s international operations help expand its geographic footprint and contribute significantly to the top line

Diversified Business Model

Charles River has a diversified business with service offerings across areas of functional expertise, client base and geographical regions. Being proficient in multiple industries helps the company meet varying client needs and offer other innovative services. Further, the company gets to know about business strategies adopted across the world. This multidisciplinary set up enables it to bring experts from numerous fields under one platform. The diversification in its business helps reduce the company’s dependence on any specific market, industry or geographic area. It also increases the company’s ability to adapt to changing conditions.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Charles River currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services sector that investors may consider are Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN), Accenture (ACN) and Republic Services RSG. While Cross Country Healthcare and Accenture sport a Zacks Rank #1, Republic Services carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Cross Country Healthcare has an expected earnings growth rate of 447.8% for the current year. The company has delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 75%, on average.

Cross Country Healthcare’s shares have surged 144% in the past year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 21.5%.

Accenture has an expected earnings growth rate of 19.7% for the current year. The company has delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.3%, on average.

Accenture’s shares have surged 38.9% in the past year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 10%.

Republic Services has an expected earnings growth rate of 10.7% for the current year. The company has delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.2%, on average.

Republic Services’ shares have surged 37.2% in the past year. The company has a long-term earnings growth of 10.9%.

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