American Greetings (NYSE: AM) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Feb. 29 (Q4), American Greetings beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share contracted to a loss.

Gross margins dropped, operating margins improved, net margins dropped.

Revenue details
American Greetings booked revenue of $456.2 million. The one analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $442.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 7.8% higher than the prior-year quarter's $423.3 million.

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

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.84. The two earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.45 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.27 for Q4 against $0.37 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 57.3%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 12.5%, 310 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -2.2%, 590 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $415.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.70.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.73 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.14.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 111 members out of 187 rating the stock outperform, and 76 members rating it underperform. Among 66 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 39 give American Greetings a green thumbs-up, and 27 give it a red thumbs-down.

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