General Motors (NYSE: GM) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), General Motors met expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped. GAAP earnings per share dropped.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 General Motors reported revenue of $36.88 billion. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected sales of $36.76 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

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 $0.85. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.56 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.85 for Q1 were 8.6% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.93 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.58 for Q1 were 3.3% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.60 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 10.6%, 160 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 2.6%, 170 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.2%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $38.39 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.73.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $155.06 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.27.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 829 members out of 1,041 rating the stock outperform, and 212 members rating it underperform. Among 196 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 158 give General Motors a green thumbs-up, and 38 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on General Motors is outperform, with an average price target of $35.24.

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