CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
We raise our 12-month price target to $150 from $120, representing 14.3x our 2026 EPS estimate, below peers and ICLR's 16.1x forward P/E average over the past five years. Our 2026 EPS view is $10.50 (down from $12.66), and we start our 2027 estimate at $11.96. While we think ICLR's accounting issues have been resolved, the company continues to operate within a challenging environment for life sciences tools & services firms, and the sub-industry trades at a wide discount to recent historical valuations. We expect 2026 will be a trough year in terms of sales, margins, and earnings before growth improves in 2027. ICLR's stricter cancellation policy resulted in a one-time $3.9 billion downward adjustment to the backlog ($21.8B as of year-end 2025). However, management noted that over 75% of this adjustment related to awards from 2023 or earlier. ICLR does not pay a shareholder dividend, but the company repurchased $750M of stock during 2025 at an average price of $167 per share.