Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) reported earnings yesterday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Flowers Foods logged revenue of $653.6 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $656.7 million. GAAP sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $573.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.17. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.21 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.17 for Q4 were 26% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.23 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 45.9%, 220 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 5.6%, 240 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.5%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $898.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.32.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.98 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.10.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 348 members out of 358 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 119 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 115 give Flowers Foods a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Flowers Foods is outperform, with an average price target of $21.43.

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