Penn West Petroleum (NYSE: PWE) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly. GAAP earnings per share dropped to a loss.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Penn West Petroleum booked revenue of $684.3 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $662.9 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 31% lower than the prior-year quarter's $729.5 million.

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 -$0.20. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.05 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.20 for Q1 against $0.12 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 56.1%, 530 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -9.6%, 860 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -18.9%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $641.3 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.07.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.76 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.22.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,352 members out of 1,400 rating the stock outperform, and 48 members rating it underperform. Among 253 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 244 give Penn West Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and nine give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Penn West Petroleum is hold, with an average price target of $10.07.

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