Why the Market Dipped But Southern Co. (SO) Gained Today

In the latest close session, Southern Co. (SO) was up +1.3% at $97.16. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.05%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.09%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.24%. The power company's shares have seen an increase of 3.66% over the last month, surpassing the Utilities sector's gain of 1.12% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.42%.The upcoming earnings release of Southern Co. will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on July 30, 2026. On that day, Southern Co. is projected to report earnings of $1.01 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 10.99%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.39 billion, up 5.94% from the prior-year quarter. For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.58 per share and a revenue of $31.36 billion, representing changes of +6.51% and +6.1%, respectively, from the prior year. Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits. Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model. The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Southern Co. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.95 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.19, which means Southern Co. is trading at a premium to the group. Also, we should mention that SO has a PEG ratio of 2.9. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Utility - Electric Power industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.79. The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, placing it within the top 43% of over 250 industries. The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1. Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions. Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks