Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL) reported earnings on Oct. 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Whiting Petroleum beat expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Whiting Petroleum logged revenue of $530.5 million. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated a top line of $520.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $468.6 million.

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 $0.73. The 26 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.78 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.70 for Q3 were 60% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.74 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 74.1%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 28.6%, 4,230 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.7%, 2,830 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $553.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.86.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.14 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.45.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 688 members out of 710 rating the stock outperform, and 22 members rating it underperform. Among 102 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 99 give Whiting Petroleum 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 Whiting Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $61.32.

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