CluenexSouthern Company SO
Southern Company scores average on business quality (4.6 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Southern Company does
Southern Company generates electricity and delivers gas to millions of customers across the Southeast, collecting regulated utility bills from households and businesses. It relies on massive capital deployment into generation assets to ensure regional power delivery.
- What it does best
Southern operates as a regulated regional monopoly, anchoring its position with an 88.6% gross margin that outpaces peers like CEG at 43.9%. This structural moat arises from government-sanctioned service areas that prevent direct competition.
- The main risk
Heavy reliance on debt financing creates vulnerability, leaving net debt at $71.0B while interest coverage sits low at 2.3x. If borrowing costs remain elevated, servicing this massive obligation will increasingly pressure earnings.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin stands at 24.2% while net margin is 15.4%, remaining stable as heavy capital investments offset operational gains.
Regulatory lock-in protects its customer base across the Southeast, supported by a gross margin in the top decile of its sector at 81% percentile.
Revenue grew 10.6% to reach $30.2B, accelerating compared to past years as infrastructure spending drives expansion.
Total debt sits at $72.6B against cash of $1.6B, while free cash flow registers negative at -$3.5B due to heavy capital spending: getting softer.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
1 sold $124K outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on SO
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Southern Company scores average on the Cluenex quality check (4.6 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat fair, growth slow and financial health weak.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $124K outside pre-planned sales.
Nov 5, 2026, before the open.
See SO today
- Today's verdict on SO, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Southern Company (SO)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/so/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.