Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (CRL Quick QuoteCRL - Free Report) is looking like an interesting pick from a technical perspective, as the company reached a key level of support. Recently, CRL's 50-day simple moving average crossed above its 200-day simple moving average, known as a "golden cross."

Considered an important signifier for a bullish breakout, a golden cross is a technical chart pattern that's formed when a stock's short-term moving average breaks above a longer-term moving average; the most common crossover involves the 50-day and the 200-day, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.

There are three stages to a golden cross. First, there must be a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out. Then, the stock's shorter moving average crosses over its longer moving average, triggering a positive trend reversal. The third stage is when a stock continues the upward momentum to higher prices.

A golden cross is the opposite of a death cross, another technical event that indicates bearish price movement may be on the horizon.

CRL could be on the verge of a breakout after moving 15.2% higher over the last four weeks. Plus, the company is currently a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank.

The bullish case solidifies once investors consider CRL's positive earnings outlook. For the current quarter, no earnings estimate has been cut compared to 3 revisions higher in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased too.

Given this move in earnings estimates and the positive technical factor, investors may want to keep their eye on CRL for more gains in the near future.