The takeaway
Charles River Laboratories shows a pronounced seasonal pattern over 10 years of data — strongest in July (+7.5%) and softest in August (−2.4%).
Right now
In July, the stock has risen 80% of years, averaging +7.5%, about +5.3 pts better than the S&P 500.
The full picture
Charles River Laboratories's most dependable month has been July, higher in 8 of 10 years; August has been its least reliable, up just 30% of the time.
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Month by month
The stock's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in July (+5.3 pts); it has trailed the market most in March (−4.1 pts).
“vs S&P” is Charles River Laboratories’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating Charles River Laboratories’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, July has closed higher 100% of the time versus 80% across the last 10 years — the pattern is strengthening.
Figures are the typical (median) July return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
Strip the year back and a single month does the heavy lifting: July, up in 8 of 10 Julys while the other eleven tend to blur together.
Its average (+7.5%) and median (+9.5%) land within a hair of each other — the tell of steady, year-after-year gains rather than one outlier doing the work. Crucially, the gain is the stock's own rather than a rising tide's: July has cleared the S&P 500 by +5.3 points above the index. That consistency sets it apart from the field, where the average stock manages July only about 61% of the time.
The strength clusters rather than stands alone — May–July forms a firm stretch that carries much of the year. The weaker half of the year is plainer: August has been the soft spot — the weakest of 4 months that average a loss (−2.4%), and the edge isn't year-round — the stock has trailed the S&P 500 in March, April, and August. Its roughest month on record was a −23.2% March in 2020 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
July has now closed higher 6 years running. If anything it has sharpened recently — the last five Julys run ahead of the earlier years.
The takeaway is less about when to buy than what to expect: July aside, the stock's months offer little reliable tilt.
Short answers on the stock's best month (July), its worst (August), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a pronounced degree. Since 2016 its best month (July, +7.5%) has run well ahead of its worst (August, −2.4%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
July has been the strongest, averaging +7.5% and closing higher in 8 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest, averaging −2.4% — historically a soft spot, though it still varies from year to year.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade