Central Garden & Pet (Nasdaq: CENT) reported earnings on Feb. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 24 (Q1), Central Garden & Pet beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased and GAAP loss per share improved.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Central Garden & Pet reported revenue of $302.1 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for a top line of $289.4 million. Sales were 7.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $281.7 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$0.27. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated -$0.26 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.27 for Q1 compared to -$0.16 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 26.7%, 280 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -3.7%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -4.3%, 90 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $496.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.57.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.68 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.61.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 106 members rating the stock outperform, and 21 members rating it underperform. Among CAPS All-Stars (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 39 give Central Garden & Pet a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

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