Royal Dutch Shell Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Royal Dutch Shell (NYS: RDS.A) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew and GAAP earnings per share shrank slightly.


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Royal Dutch Shell logged revenue of $119.92 billion. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $107.06 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $109.92 billion.

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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 $2.34. The six earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $2.37 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.40 for Q1 were 1.4% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.42 per share.

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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 16.5%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 10.1%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.3%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $111.61 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $2.24.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $469.12 billion. The average EPS estimate is $9.24.

Investor sentiment

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Royal Dutch Shell is outperform, with an average price target of $82.37.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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