Central Garden & Pet (Nasdaq: CENT) reported earnings on May 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 30 (Q2), Central Garden & Pet beat slightly on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Central Garden & Pet tallied revenue of $498.2 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated revenue of $493.2 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 6.7% higher than the prior-year quarter's $466.9 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 $0.46. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.55 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.46 for Q2 were 2.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.45 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 30.7%, 90 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.4%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.5%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $555.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.43.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.74 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 110 members out of 131 rating the stock outperform, and 21 members rating it underperform. Among 46 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 38 give Central Garden & Pet a green thumbs-up, and eight give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Central Garden & Pet is outperform, with an average price target of $11.50.

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