Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) reported earnings on Oct. 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Royal Caribbean Cruises beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue contracted and GAAP earnings per share shrank.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Royal Caribbean Cruises booked revenue of $2.23 billion. The 22 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $2.19 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 4.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $2.32 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 $1.68. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $1.48 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.68 for Q3 were 7.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.82 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 39.4%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 20.3%, 160 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 16.5%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.81 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.06.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $7.70 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.93.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 412 members out of 497 rating the stock outperform, and 85 members rating it underperform. Among 147 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 131 give Royal Caribbean Cruises 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 Royal Caribbean Cruises is outperform, with an average price target of $31.13.