Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Feb. 7. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
 Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Flowers Foods's revenues will expand 8.4% and EPS will grow 47.1%.

The average estimate for revenue is $708.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.25.

Revenue details
 Last quarter, Flowers Foods notched revenue of $717.3 million. GAAP reported sales were 6.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $675.4 million.

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

EPS details
 Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.25. GAAP EPS of $0.22 for Q3 were 4.3% 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.

Recent performance
 For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 46.7%, 80 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 8.1%, 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.4%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $3.01 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.00.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 347 members out of 357 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 115 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 113 give Flowers Foods 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 Flowers Foods is outperform, with an average price target of $22.29.

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