General Mills Meets on the Top Line, Misses Where It Counts

General Mills (NYSE: GIS  ) reported earnings on Dec. 20. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Nov. 27 (Q2), General Mills met expectations on revenues and missed on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased, and earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
General Mills reported revenue of $4.6 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $4.6 billion. Sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $4.1 billion

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.76. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.79 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.67 for Q2 were 27% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.92 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 34.5%, 570 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 15.5%, 480 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 9.6%, 550 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods.

Looking ahead
What does the future hold?

Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.2 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.60 (There are 13 revenue estimates and 17 EPS estimates.)

For the full year ending 2012, the average estimate for revenue is $16.7 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.61. (There are 15 revenue estimates and 19 EPS estimates.)

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,058 members out of 1,115 rating the stock outperform, and 57 members rating it underperform. Among 343 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 330 give General Mills a green thumbs-up, and 13 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on General Mills is outperform, with an average price target of $41.53.

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