Life Technologies (Nasdaq: LIFE) reported earnings on July 31. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Life Technologies met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue was unchanged. Non-GAAP earnings per share expanded slightly. GAAP earnings per share increased.

Gross margins grew, operating margins shrank, net margins grew.

Revenue details
 Life Technologies booked revenue of $945.8 million. The 16 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $952.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 0.4% lower than the prior-year quarter's $949.3 million.

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

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.98. The 19 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.96 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.98 for Q2 were 2.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.96 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.72 for Q2 were 7.5% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.67 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures are normalized by S&P Capital IQ and may vary to maintain comparability with normalized estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 66.3%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 20.2%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 13.4%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $939.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.99.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.87 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.20.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 209 members out of 227 rating the stock outperform, and 18 members rating it underperform. Among 62 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 59 give Life Technologies a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Life Technologies is hold, with an average price target of $75.07.

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