Can Life Technologies Meet These Numbers?

Life Technologies (Nasdaq: LIFE  ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Feb. 4. 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 Life Technologies's revenues will grow 1.8% and EPS will grow 4.7%.

The average estimate for revenue is $987.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.11.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Life Technologies reported revenue of $911.2 million. GAAP reported sales were 1.8% lower than the prior-year quarter's $928.2 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 $0.92. GAAP EPS of $0.37 for Q3 were 29% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.52 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 65.6%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 20.1%, 110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.2%, 320 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $3.79 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.98.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 221 members out of 237 rating the stock outperform, and 16 members rating it underperform. Among 79 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 74 give Life Technologies a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Life Technologies is outperform, with an average price target of $52.00.

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