Safeway (NYSE: SWY) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 24 (Q1), Safeway met expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared with the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded slightly and GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.

Gross margins contracted, operating margins shrank, net margins increased.

Revenue details
Safeway chalked up revenue of $10.00 billion. The 16 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $10.06 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.4% higher than the prior-year quarter's $9.77 billion.

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 $0.30. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.30 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.27 for Q1 were 286% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.07 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 26.8%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 1.9%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.7%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $10.43 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.47.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $44.58 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.96.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 326 members out of 393 rating the stock outperform, and 67 members rating it underperform. Among 107 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 91 give Safeway a green thumbs-up, and 16 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Safeway is hold, with an average price target of $21.18.

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