General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported earnings on July 19. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), General Electric met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped. Non-GAAP earnings per share shrank. GAAP earnings per share expanded.

Gross margins contracted, operating margins shrank, net margins grew.

Revenue details
 General Electric booked revenue of $35.12 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for net sales of $35.49 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 $0.36. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.35 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.36 for Q2 were 5.3% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.38 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.05 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.) GAAP EPS of $0.30 for Q2 were 3.4% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.29 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.05 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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 10.6%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 10.6%, 150 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.9%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $36.63 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.40.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $144.65 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.66.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 15,559 members out of 16,613 rating the stock outperform, and 1,054 members rating it underperform. Among 3,081 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 2,946 give General Electric a green thumbs-up, and 135 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on General Electric is outperform, with an average price target of $25.75.

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