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Southern Company (SO) Beats Q2 Earnings, Misses Revenue

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Atlanta, GA-based Southern Company (SO - Free Report) is one of the largest utilities in the U.S. Through its eleven electric and natural gas distribution units in nine states, Southern Company serves approximately nine million customers. It boasts of a generating capacity of 44,000 megawatts, around 200,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines, and more than 80,000 miles of natural gas pipelines. Southern Company’s operations include wholesale electricity generation and natural gas services, retail energy services and natural gas storage operations throughout the country.

Currently, Southern Company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but that could change following its second quarter 2016 earnings report which has just released. Coming to earnings surprise history, the company has an excellent record: its surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters with an average beat of 4.49%.

We have highlighted some of the key details from the just-released announcement below:

Earnings: Southern Company beats on earnings. Earnings per share (excluding certain one-time items) came in at 74 cents, ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 69 cents.

Revenue: Revenues below expectations. Revenues of $4,453 million were just under the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,461 million.

Key Stats: Southern Company’s total retail sales fell 1.6%, with residential, commercial and industrial sales all down. The power supplier’s operations and maintenance cost remained essentially flat at $1,099 million, while the utility’s total operating expense for the period – at $3,227 million – was also literally unchanged from the prior-year level.

SOUTHERN CO Price and EPS Surprise

SOUTHERN CO Price and EPS Surprise | SOUTHERN CO Quote

Check back later for our full write up on this Southern Company earnings report later!

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