Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported earnings on Wednesday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Alcatel-Lucent met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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

Gross margins increased, operating margins dropped, and net margins increased.

Revenue details
Alcatel-Lucent reported revenue of $5.53 billion. The 17 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $5.49 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 11% lower than the prior-year quarter's $6.07 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 $0.25. The six earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.10 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.38 for Q4 were 124% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.17 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 34.4%, 150 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 5.1%, 790 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 20.9%, 1,340 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.50 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.01.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $20.38 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.26.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 657 members rating the stock outperform and 158 members rating it underperform. Among 121 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 89 give Alcatel-Lucent a green thumbs-up, and 32 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Alcatel-Lucent is hold, with an average price target of $2.82.

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