Tidewater (NYSE: TDW) reported earnings on May 21. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Tidewater beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

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

Gross margins were steady, operating margins grew, net margins expanded.

Revenue details
 Tidewater logged revenue of $328.3 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $317.9 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $289.4 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 $0.95. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.61 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.95 for Q4 were 44% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.66 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 42.6%, much about the same as the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 16.7%, 200 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 14.2%, 260 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $336.6 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.88.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.41 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.12.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 690 members out of 714 rating the stock outperform, and 24 members rating it underperform. Among 171 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 168 give Tidewater a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Tidewater is outperform, with an average price target of $53.93.

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