Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) reported earnings on March 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 28 (Q4), Aeropostale met expectations on revenue and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Aeropostale booked revenue of $808.4 million. The 20 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $805.9 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 3.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $839.3 million.

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

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.44. The 24 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.37 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.32 for Q4 were 66% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.94 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 26.1%, 2,670 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.9%, 1,030 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.2%, 680 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $465.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.11.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.40 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.18.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,031 members rating the stock outperform and 63 members rating it underperform. Among 328 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 318 give Aeropostale a green thumbs-up, and 10 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Aeropostale is hold, with an average price target of $18.05.

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