Southern Company (SO)
Utilities · $98.3B market cap · SEC CIK 0000092122
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 28, 2026, before the open, with analysts expecting $1.71 in earnings per share.
The case for SO
- Pays a 4.0% dividend while you wait.
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.30).
- Return on equity of 13% is higher than 86% of Utilities companies.
The case against
- Burned $2.9B of free cash in FY2025.
- Near the bottom of its 52-week range, 16% below the high. Falling prices usually have a reason; find it first.
- A PEG of 3.0: a P/E of 21.1× is a lot to pay for EPS growing 7%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.79).
- Value is weak (38/100): 21.1× earnings, 3.4× sales, -3.0% free-cash yield.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Utilities companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 38 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 53 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 47 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 26 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 80 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 31 Utilities companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 21.1× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 2.73× |
| Price / sales | 3.4× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +6.8% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +6.9% |
| Gross margin | 40% |
| Operating margin | 25% |
| Net margin | 16% |
| Return on equity | 13% |
| Debt / equity | 1.91× |
| Current ratio | 0.79 |
| Dividend yield | 4.02% |
| Beta | 0.30 |
| 52-week range | $83.80 – $100.84 |
| Position in that range | 8% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -8.2% |
| 1-year return | -6.9% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Southern Company's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $29.6B | $26.7B | $25.3B | $29.3B | $23.1B |
| Operating income | $7.3B | $7.1B | $5.8B | $5.4B | $3.7B |
| Net income | $4.3B | $4.4B | $4.0B | — | — |
| Operating cash flow | $9.8B | $9.8B | $7.6B | $6.3B | $6.2B |
| Capital expenditure | $12.7B | $9.0B | $9.1B | $7.9B | $7.6B |
| Total assets | $156B | $145B | $139B | $135B | $128B |
| Total liabilities | $117B | $109B | $104B | $100B | $95.0B |
| Shareholder equity | $36.0B | $33.2B | $31.4B | $30.4B | $27.9B |
| Cash | $1.6B | $1.1B | $748M | $1.9B | $1.8B |
| Free cash flow | -$2.9B | $833M | -$1.5B | -$1.6B | -$1.4B |
| Operating margin | 24.7% | 26.4% | 23.1% | 18.3% | 16.0% |
| Net margin | 14.7% | 16.5% | 15.7% | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B |
Share count is up 3.8% over 4 years. Mild issuance.
What Southern Company says it does
Southern Company is a holding company that owns all of the outstanding common stock of three traditional electric operating companies, Southern Power Company, and Southern Company Gas. • The traditional electric operating companies – Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power – are each vertically integrated utilities providing electric service to retail customers in three Southeastern states in addition to wholesale customers in the Southeast. • Southern Power Company is an operating public utility company. The term "Southern Power" when used herein refers to Southern Power Company and its subsidiaries, while the term "Southern Power Company" when used herein refers only to the Southern Power parent company. Southern Power develops, constructs, acquires, owns, operates, and manages power generation assets, including battery energy storage projects, and sells electricity at market-based rates in the wholesale…
Risk factors SO lists in its 10-K
- In addition to the other information in this Form 10-K, including
- MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS – FUTURE EARNINGS POTENTIAL in Item 7, and other documents filed by Southern Company and/or its
- subsidiaries with the SEC, the following factors should be
- carefully considered in evaluating Southern Company and its subsidiaries. Such
- factors could affect actual results and cause results to differ materially from
- those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Southern
- Company and/or its subsidiaries. The risk factors discussed below could adversely affect a Registrant's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, and cash flow, as well as cause reputational damage
- Southern Company and its subsidiaries are subject to substantial federal, state, and local governmental
- regulation, including with respect to rates. Compliance with current and future legal and regulatory requirements and
- procurement of necessary approvals, permits, and certificates may result in
- The Southern Company system's costs of compliance with environmental laws and regulations and satisfying related AROs are significant
- The Southern Company system may be exposed to regulatory and financial risks related to the impact of GHG legislation, regulation, and emission reduction goals
- The financial performance of Southern Company and its subsidiaries may be adversely
- affected if the subsidiaries are unable to successfully operate their facilities or perform certain corporate functions