Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) reported earnings on April 19. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Gross margin shrank, operating margin dropped, and net margin expanded.

Revenue details
Southwest Airlines reported revenue of $3.99 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $4.01 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 29% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.10 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 -$0.02. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.05 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.13 for Q1 were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.01 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 18.2%, 320 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 0.9%, 280 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.5%, 230 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.58 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.28.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $17.48 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.70.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,511 members rating the stock outperform and 252 members rating it underperform. Among 365 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 320 give Southwest Airlines a green thumbs-up, and 45 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Southwest Airlines is outperform, with an average price target of $11.46.

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