CRA International: Prepared CFO Remarks for Q3 2026 Conference Call

CHARLES RIVER ASSOCIATES (CRA) THIRD QUARTER FISCAL YEAR 2026 EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENT PREPARED CFO REMARKS

CRA is providing these prepared remarks by CFO Eric Nierenberg in combination with its press release. These remarks are offered to provide the investment community with additional information on CRA's financial results prior to the start of the conference call.

As previously announced, the conference call will be held on November 5, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET. These prepared remarks will not be read on the call.

• Revenue: $214.9 million

• Net income: $13.9 million, or 6.5% of revenue; non-GAAP net income: $13.9 million, or 6.4% of revenue

• Earnings per diluted share: $2.20; non-GAAP earnings per diluted share: $2.19

• Operating margin and non-GAAP operating margin: 11.1%

• Non-GAAP EBITDA: $27.1 million, or 12.6% of revenue

• Effective tax rate: 34.8%; non-GAAP effective tax rate: 34.9%

• Utilization: 78%

• Consultant headcount at the end of Q3 of fiscal 2026: 1,028, which consists of 163 officers, 606 other senior staff and 259 junior staff

• Cash and cash equivalents: $20.4 million at October 3, 2026

• Revolving credit facility borrowing capacity: $171.9 million at October 3, 2026

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, revenue was $214.9 million, compared with revenue of $185.9 million for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

The following table outlines CRA's consultant headcount at the end of the stated quarters:

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, company-wide utilization was 78%, compared with 77% for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, client reimbursables were $21.2 million, or 9.9% of revenue, compared with $17.8 million, or 9.6% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, SG&A expenses were $35.4 million, or 16.5% of revenue, compared with $33.7 million, or 18.1% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025. Commissions to non-employee experts are included in SG&A expenses. These commissions represented approximately 1.6% of revenue for Q3 of fiscal 2026 and 1.8% for Q3 of fiscal 2025. Excluding these commissions, SG&A expenses were 14.9% of revenue for Q3 of fiscal 2026, compared with 16.3% in Q3 of fiscal 2025.

Fiscal Quarter Ended

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, depreciation and amortization expenses amounted to $3.2 million, or 1.5% of revenue, compared with $3.5 million, or 1.9% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, forgivable loan amortization, including performance award amortization was $15.1 million, or 7.0% of revenue, compared with $11.5 million, or 6.2% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, share-based compensation expense was approximately $1.4 million, or 0.6% of revenue, compared with $1.6 million, or 0.8% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, operating income and non-GAAP operating income were $23.9 million, or 11.1% of revenue, compared with

$17.2 million, or 9.3% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, net interest expense was $2.6 million, or 1.2% of revenue, compared with net interest expense of $1.8 million, or 0.9% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, net foreign currency gains were $0.1 million, or 0.0% of revenue, compared with net foreign currency gains of

$0.8 million, or 0.4% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

Foreign currency gains (losses), net, are comprised of net gains and losses on foreign denominated transactions and the revaluation of working capital balances.

The following table outlines CRA's income tax provision recorded and the resulting effective tax rates:

GAAP Non-GAAP

Fiscal Quarter Ended Fiscal Quarter Ended

Fiscal Quarter Ended

(1) Fiscal quarter ended September 27, 2025 includes restructuring and separation benefits totaling $3.7 million, comprised of $2.6 million in cash and $1.1 million in non-cash charges.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, net income was $13.9 million, or 6.5% of revenue, or $2.20 per diluted share, compared with net income of

$11.5 million, or 6.2% of revenue, or $1.73 per diluted share, for Q3 of fiscal 2025. Non-GAAP net income for Q3 of fiscal 2026 was

$13.9 million, or 6.4% of revenue, or $2.19 per diluted share, compared with $13.7 million, or 7.3% of revenue, or $2.06 per diluted share, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, non-GAAP EBITDA was $27.1 million, or 12.6% of revenue, compared with $24.4 million, or 13.1% of revenue, for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, revenue was $214.9 million, and net income was $13.9 million, or 6.5% of revenue, or $2.20 per diluted share. On a constant currency basis relative to Q3 of fiscal 2025, Q3 of fiscal 2026 revenue would have been higher by $0.3 million at

$215.2 million, while earnings per diluted share would have decreased by $0.01. GAAP net income would have remained unchanged.

For Q3 of fiscal 2026, revenue was $214.9 million, and non-GAAP net income was $13.9 million, or 6.4% of revenue, or $2.19 per diluted share. On a constant currency basis relative to Q3 of fiscal 2025, Q3 of fiscal 2026 revenue would have been higher by $0.3 million at $215.2 million, and GAAP net income would have remained unchanged. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share would have decreased by $0.01, while non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EBITDA would have remained unchanged.

A description of the process for calculating the measures presented on a constant currency basis is contained under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.

Billed and unbilled receivables at October 3, 2026 were $289.6 million, compared with $243.1 million at September 27, 2025. Current liabilities at October 3, 2026 were $333.8 million, compared with $338.6 million at September 27, 2025.

Total Days Sales Outstanding, or DSO, for Q3 of fiscal 2026 was 117 days, consisting of 70 days of billed and 47 days of unbilled. This compares with 115 days reported for Q3 of fiscal 2025, consisting of 70 days of billed and 45 days of unbilled.

Cash and cash equivalents was $20.4 million at October 3, 2026, compared with $22.5 million at September 27, 2025.

Net cash provided by operating activities for Q3 of fiscal 2026 was $74.4 million, compared with net cash provided by operating activities of $36.5 million for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

As of October 3, 2026, there were $75.0 million in borrowings outstanding under CRA's revolving credit facility. At September 27, 2025, there were $95.0 million in borrowings outstanding under CRA's revolving credit facility.

Capital expenditures totaled $1.2 million for Q3 of fiscal 2026, compared with $0.7 million for Q3 of fiscal 2025.

CRA did not repurchase any shares under the share repurchase program during Q3 of fiscal 2026. During the fiscal quarter ended September 27, 2025, CRA repurchased approximately 22,000 shares of common stock for $4.0 million.

A quarterly cash dividend of $0.57 per common share, for total dividends and dividend equivalents of $3.6 million, was paid in Q3 of fiscal 2026, compared with a quarterly cash dividend of $0.49 per common share, for total dividends and dividend equivalents of $3.2 million paid in Q3 of fiscal 2025.

CRA has derived the condensed consolidated statement of cash flow data for the fourth quarters and the years ended January 3, 2026 and December 28, 2024 from its audited financial statements appearing on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2026, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 26, 2026. The condensed consolidated statement of cash flow data for the first, second and third quarters of fiscal year 2025, and the first, second, and third quarters of fiscal year 2026 have been derived from CRA's unaudited financial statements appearing on Form 10-Q for each of the respective fiscal quarters as well as the consolidated statements of cash flows appearing on Form 10-K for the fiscal years ended January 3, 2026 and December 28, 2024 and have been prepared on the same basis as CRA's audited financial statements.

Below are the quarterly and last twelve-month reconciliations of GAAP net cash provided by (used in) operating activities for each of the periods presented to non-GAAP adjusted net cash flows from operations. The reconciling items are forgivable loan advances and repayments for each period, which are reported as a component of GAAP net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, along with other non-recurring cash items.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In these remarks, CRA has supplemented the presentation of its financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or "GAAP" with the following financial measures that were not calculated in accordance with GAAP: non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP EBITDA, non-GAAP income from operations (and non-GAAP operating margin), non-GAAP provision for income taxes (and non-GAAP effective tax rate), SG&A expenses excluding

commissions and non-GAAP adjusted net cash flows from operations. CRA believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are important to management and investors because these measures supplement the understanding of CRA's ongoing operating results, financial condition and cash flows. Non-GAAP adjusted net cash flows from operations is used by management to assess CRA's ability to fund items such as the acquisition of talent, office expansions, debt repayment and distributions to shareholders. In addition, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EBITDA are used by CRA in its budgeting process, and the non-GAAP adjustments described below are made to the performance measures for some of CRA's performance-based compensation.

As used herein, CRA defines non-GAAP EBITDA as net income before interest expense (net), provision for income taxes, and depreciation and amortization further adjusted for the impact of certain items that we do not consider indicative of its core operating performance, such as non-cash amounts relating to valuation changes in contingent consideration, acquisition-related costs, foreign currency (gains) losses, net, restructuring costs and related tax effects. Non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP provision for income taxes also exclude non-cash amounts relating to valuation changes in contingent consideration, acquisition-related costs, foreign currency (gains) losses, net, restructuring costs and related tax effects. The adjustments made to non-GAAP adjusted net cash flows from operations add back forgivable loan issuances, net of repayments, along with other non-recurring cash items. These remarks also present certain current fiscal period financial measures on a "constant currency" basis in order to isolate the effect that foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations can have on CRA's financial results. These constant currency measures are determined by recalculating the current fiscal period local currency financial measure using the specified corresponding prior fiscal period's foreign exchange rates.

All of the non-GAAP financial measures referred to above should be considered in conjunction with, and not as a substitute for, the GAAP financial information presented in these remarks. The financial measures identified in these remarks as "non-GAAP" are reconciled to their GAAP comparable measures either in these remarks or in the attached financial tables. In evaluating these non-GAAP financial measures, note that the non-GAAP financial measures used by CRA may be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.

‌CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS FOR THE FISCAL QUARTERS ENDED

OCTOBER 3, 2026 COMPARED TO SEPTEMBER 27, 2025 (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA)

Fiscal Quarter Ended Fiscal Year-to-Date Period Ended

‌CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

FOR THE FISCAL QUARTERS ENDED OCTOBER 3, 2026 COMPARED TO SEPTEMBER 27, 2025

(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA)

Fiscal Quarter Ended Fiscal Year-to-Date Period Ended

(1) Fiscal year-to-date period ended October 3, 2026 includes cash severance of $1.6 million and non-cash charges of $1.0 million associated with portfolio optimization actions.

(2) Fiscal quarter ended September 27, 2025 includes restructuring and separation benefits totaling $3.7 million, comprised of $2.6 million in cash and $1.1 million in non-cash charges.

(3) Fiscal year-to-date period ended September 27, 2025 includes restructuring and separation benefits totaling $4.9 million, comprised of $3.8 million in cash and $1.1 million in non-cash charges; net of the reversal of $5.4 million of non-cash charges associated with a previously recorded performance award.

‌CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

FOR THE FISCAL QUARTERS ENDED OCTOBER 3, 2026 COMPARED TO SEPTEMBER 27, 2025

(IN THOUSANDS)

Fiscal Quarter Ended Fiscal Year-to-Date Period Ended

(1) Fiscal year-to-date period ended October 3, 2026 includes cash severance of $1.6 million and non-cash charges of $1.0 million associated with portfolio optimization actions.

(2) Fiscal quarter ended September 27, 2025 includes restructuring and separation benefits totaling $3.7 million, comprised of $2.6 million in cash and $1.1 million in non-cash charges.

(3) Fiscal year-to-date period ended September 27, 2025 includes restructuring and separation benefits totaling $4.9 million, comprised of $3.8 million in cash and $1.1 million in non-cash charges; net of the reversal of $5.4 million of non-cash charges associated with a previously recorded performance award.

‌CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (IN THOUSANDS)

Fiscal Year-to-Date Period Ended

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