tapebrief
Preliminary brief— based on press release only. Full analysis including management tone and Q&A will be added when the transcript is available.

SO · Q4 2024 Earnings

Southern Company

Reported February 19, 2026

30-second summary

SENTIMENT: Mixed Southern closed FY2025 with Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $0.55 (beating the $0.49 estimate management gave on the prior call by six cents) and full-year adjusted EPS of $4.30, up from $4.05 in FY2024. GAAP results tell a different story: Q4 reported EPS fell to $0.38 from $0.49 a year ago (-22%), and full-year reported EPS slipped to $3.94 from $4.02, weighed down by ~$0.17 of Q4 charges spanning accelerated depreciation from Southern Power wind repowering, a loss on extinguishment of debt tied to convertible-note repurchases, and an Illinois Commerce Commission disallowance at Nicor Gas. Revenue of $7.0B in Q4 (+10.1% YoY) and $29.6B for the year (+10.6%) confirms the top-line growth story is intact, and the adjusted print clears the bar management set a quarter ago — but the GAAP-to-non-GAAP gap widened materially, and the supplied current-quarter materials do not contain a forward FY2026 EPS guide.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q4 FY2024

$0.55

Revenue

Q4 FY2024

$7.00B

+10.1% YoY

Operating margin

Q4 FY2024

13.1%

Key financials

Q4 FY2024
MetricQ4 FY2024YoYQ3 FY2024QoQ
Revenue$7.00B+10.1%$7.82B-10.5%
EPS$0.55$1.60-65.6%
Operating margin13.1%33.2%-2006bps

Guidance

Southern Company raised full-year 2025 adjusted EPS guidance to $4.20–$4.30 (from $4.05) on Q4 FY2024 outperformance, with long-term sales growth expectations of 8% company-wide and 12% at Georgia Power driven by exceptional economic development momentum.

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Actuals vs prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideActualΔResult
Adjusted EPSQ4 FY2024$0.49$0.55+$0.06 above guideBeat

New guidance

MetricPeriodGuideYoY
Retail electricity sales growthFY2025approximately 2% to 3%
Long-term average annual sales growthFY2025-FY2029approximately 8%
Georgia Power total retail electric sales growthFY2025-FY2029approximately 12%

Changes to prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideNew guideΔResult
Adjusted EPS
FY2025
$4.05$4.20 to $4.30+$0.15 to +$0.25 (midpoint +$0.20)Raised

Reaffirmed unchanged this quarter: Long-term adjusted EPS growth rate (5% to 7%)

Segment KPIs

Q4 FY2024
SegmentQ4 FY2024YoY
Southern Power$0.472B+13.2%
Southern Company Gas$1.492B+20.7%
Alabama Power$1.937B+10.6%
Georgia Power$2.713B+4.9%
Mississippi Power$0.394B+14.2%

Other KPIs

Q4 FY2024
SegmentQ4 FY2024
Total Retail KWh Sales35,330 million
Total Wholesale KWh Sales13,538 million
Retail Sales Growth (Weather-Adjusted)1.4%
Regulated Utility Customers9,005 thousand
Total Electric Operating Revenues5.179 billion
Natural Gas Revenues1.492 billion
Operating Income917 million
Interest Expense, net of capitalized amounts895 million

Management tone

No tone-shift analysis available for this quarter.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

Data center demand acceleration and geographic expansionRegulatory clarity creating visibility into $10-15B incremental capexDurability and sustainability of long-term growth trajectoryVertically integrated market advantages vs unregulated competitionSouthern Power recontracting and new gas generation optionalityInterest rate headwind moderating post-2027

Risks management surfaced:

Higher interest rates for longer refinancing existing parent company debt at 150-200 bps premiumTiming risk on materializing incremental capital opportunities from ongoing RFPsData center customer concentration and speculative project riskSupply chain constraints for gas turbines and transmission equipmentRegulatory process uncertainty on generation RFP outcomes

What to watch into next quarter

A forward FY2026 EPS guide — the supplied current-quarter materials do not include a refreshed full-year guidance range. Watch the 10-K and the next call for the official FY2026 framework.

Remaining repowering accelerated depreciation — disclosed at approximately $490M pre-tax in 2026 and $100M in 2027 at Southern Power. This is a known drag on GAAP earnings that will persist through the in-service dates between Q3 2026 and Q3 2027.

Nicor Gas regulatory follow-through — the $63M Q4 estimated loss on capital investment disallowances by the Illinois Commerce Commission is flagged as potentially subject to further charges. Watch for incremental disclosures.

Convertible-note repurchase activity — Southern recorded $252M of full-year debt-extinguishment loss tied to convertible senior notes. Management flagged that similar transactions may recur.

Retail sales mix — commercial kWh sales were the strongest retail category in Q4 (+3.8% weather-adjusted) while residential was -0.3%. Watch whether commercial strength persists as the data-center load story develops.

Sources

  1. Southern Company Q4 FY2025 earnings press release (SEC EDGAR Exhibit 99), dated February 19, 2026.
  2. Southern Company Q4 FY2024 earnings call transcript (prior-period source, used only for the $0.49 Q4 FY2025 estimate carried into this brief via trusted prior guidance).

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