United States Steel (NYSE: X) reported earnings April 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), United States Steel beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue improved and GAAP loss per share expanded.

Gross margins grew, operating margins grew, net margins dropped.

Revenue details
United States Steel reported revenue of $5.17 billion. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted net sales of $4.95 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 6.3% higher than the prior-year quarter's $4.86 billion.

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

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.67. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.46 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$1.52 for Q1 compared to -$0.60 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 10.6%, 560 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.1%, 630 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -4.2%, 240 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $5.02 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.81.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $19.65 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.66.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,963 members out of 2,120 rating the stock outperform, and 157 members rating it underperform. Among 478 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 444 give United States Steel a green thumbs-up, and 34 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on United States Steel is hold, with an average price target of $35.69.

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