Life Technologies (Nasdaq: LIFE) reported earnings on Feb. 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Life Technologies met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew, and GAAP earnings per share increased significantly.

Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
Life Technologies notched revenue of $970.3 million. The 21 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $967.7 million. Sales were 8.4% higher than the prior-year quarter's $871.1 million.

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

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.06. The 22 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.04 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.69 for Q4 were 86% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.37 per share.

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 65.8%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 24.1%, 640 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 12.6%, 500 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $925.6 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.93.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.85 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 193 members rating the stock outperform and 13 members rating it underperform. Among 81 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 79 give Life Technologies a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Life Technologies is outperform, with an average price target of $51.18.