Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Cabot Oil & Gas met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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

Gross margins increased, operating margins contracted, net margins expanded.

Revenue details
 Cabot Oil & Gas recorded revenue of $272.1 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $274.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 30% higher than the prior-year quarter's $209.0 million.

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 $0.14. The 19 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.13 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.09 for Q1 were 50% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.06 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 74.5%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.3%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.7%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $287.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.12.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.26 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.65.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 484 members out of 527 rating the stock outperform, and 43 members rating it underperform. Among 101 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 95 give Cabot Oil & Gas a green thumbs-up, and six give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Cabot Oil & Gas is outperform, with an average price target of $45.65.

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