Southern Company

SO

Market cap $107B

OKLO offers high-risk nuclear upside tied to AI demand, while regulated SO delivers steady growth and income.

Southern Co. (SO) has been one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com users lately. So, it is worth exploring what lies ahead for the stock.

The U.S. Energy Department has offered a $26.54 billion loan to subsidiaries of Southern Co to increase grid reliability, the largest ever such financing by its loan office, the department said on Wednesday.

SO's fourth-quarter EPS of 55 cents missed estimates as higher costs weighed, even as revenues jumped 10% on strong retail sales growth.

Investments to create an estimated $7 billion in benefits for Southern Company customers, helping lower energy costs and strengthen the grid, while advancing the president's energy dominance and affordability agenda ATLANTA, Feb. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Customers across Alabama and Georgia are set to benefit from a historic U.S. government investment into energy infrastructure and grid reliability. Southern Company's subsidiaries, Georgia Power and Alabama Power, have received a loan package of up to $26.54 billion from the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF).

Southern Company is paying a 3.14% dividend yield, and is set to hike this in April as it stands to become a Dividend Aristocrat. This requires 25 consecutive years of dividend hikes, and SO has raised its dividend in the low-to-mid single digits every year for 24 years.

The Southern Company (SO) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

While the top- and bottom-line numbers for Southern Co. (SO) give a sense of how the business performed in the quarter ended December 2025, it could be worth looking at how some of its key metrics compare to Wall Street estimates and year-ago values.

Southern Co. (SO) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.55 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.56 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.5 per share a year ago.

Southern Co forecast annual profit below analysts' estimates on Thursday, and raised its five-year spending plan as it prepares to support unprecedented power needs from large-load customers such as data centers and industrials.