Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reported earnings on April 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
 Alcoa recorded revenue of $5.83 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected sales of $5.88 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 $0.11. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.08 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.11 for Q1 were 10.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.10 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.13 for Q1 were 44% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.09 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 16.9%, 180 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 5.6%, 140 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.6%, 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $6.07 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.12.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $23.97 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.49.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 3,427 members out of 3,671 rating the stock outperform, and 244 members rating it underperform. Among 765 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 719 give Alcoa a green thumbs-up, and 46 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Alcoa is hold, with an average price target of $10.32.

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