Southern Company (SO)

Utilities · $107B market cap · SEC CIK 0000092122

Next reports on Feb 17, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $0.43 in earnings per share.

52-week range $81.69 to $99.58. 6% below its 52-week high and 15% above its low.

The case for SO

• Revenue growing 8.2% year over year.
• Pays a 4.0% dividend while you wait.
• Moves less than the market (beta 0.26).
• Return on equity of 13% is higher than 86% of Utilities companies.

The case against

• Burned $2.9B of free cash in FY2025.
• Long-term debt of $65.6B would take 7 years of operating cash flow to repay.
• Operating profit covers its interest bill only 2.6 times.
• Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.84).

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. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.

• Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 31 Utilities companies.

The financials

The financials, five years deep

Pulled from Southern Company's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.

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 market. •…

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
• Operation of nuclear facilities involves inherent risks, including environmental,
• safety, health, regulatory, natural disasters, cyber intrusions, physical attacks, and financial risks, that could result in fines or the
• closure of the nuclear units owned by Alabama Power or Georgia Power
• and which may present potential exposures in excess of insurance coverage
• Physical attacks, both threatened and actual, could impact the ability of the Subsidiary Registrants to operate
• The Southern Company system may not be able to obtain
• adequate natural gas, fuel supplies, and other resources required to operate the traditional electric operating companies' and Southern Power's electric generating plants or serve Southern Company Gas' natural gas customers
• The revenues of Southern Company, the traditional electric operating companies, and Southern Power depend in
• Increased competition from other companies that supply energy or generation and storage technologies and changes in customer demand for energy could negatively impact Southern Company and its subsidiaries
• The Subsidiary Registrants are subject to workforce factors that could affect operations
• Supply chain disruptions, inflation, elevated interest rates, trade policies (including tariffs and other trade measures), and other economic factors could negatively impact operations
• The Registrants have incurred and may incur additional costs or delays in the construction of new plants or other facilities and may not be able to recover their investments. Also, existing facilities of
• ongoing expenditures, including those to maintain reliability and meet AROs and other environmental standards and goals
• Southern Company Gas' significant investment in pipeline development projects involves financial and execution risks
• The Registrants are subject to risks associated with a changing economic environment, customer behaviors, including increased energy conservation, and adoption patterns of technologies by customers
• Acquisitions, dispositions, or other strategic ventures or investments may not result in anticipated benefits and may present risks, including risks not originally contemplated
• Uncertainty in demand for energy can result in lower earnings or higher costs
• The businesses of the Registrants and Nicor Gas are dependent on their ability to successfully access capital through capital markets and financial institutions
• Failure to comply with debt covenants or conditions could adversely affect the ability of the Registrants, SEGCO, Southern Company Gas Capital, or Nicor Gas to execute future borrowings
• Volatility in the securities markets, interest rates, and other factors could substantially increase defined benefit pension and other postretirement plan costs and affect the funding available for nuclear decommissioning
• Shareholder activism could cause Southern Company to incur significant expense, hinder execution of Southern Company's business strategy, and impact Southern Company's stock price
• The Registrants are subject to risks associated with their ability to obtain adequate insurance at acceptable costs
• The use of derivative contracts by Southern Company and its subsidiaries in the
• normal course of business could result in financial losses that negatively impact the
• net income of the Registrants or in reported net income volatility
• Future impairments of goodwill or long-lived assets could have a material adverse effect on the Registrants' results of operations

Filings

Other Utilities companies