SO vs EXC Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
SO and EXC illustrate the two dominant regulated utility models. Southern owns generation, including the Vogtle nuclear units, and serves a Southeast territory with unusually strong demand growth. Exelon owns only wires after separating its generation business, so it takes no fuel or construction risk and earns regulated returns on grid investment in large urban markets.
Use this SO vs EXC comparison to decide whether you want generation exposure. Owning plants creates fuel, operating, and construction risk, as Vogtle demonstrated expensively, but also positions a utility to serve load growth directly. A wires-only utility like Exelon has narrower, more predictable earnings and less that can go badly wrong.
EXC holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. EXC leads on both 1-year return (-8.79%) and forward P/E quality (14.46x vs 17.92x for SO), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, EXC is growing revenue faster (9.90%), while SO maintains the higher operating margin (29.61%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +13.64% for SO and +11.27% for EXC.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to strong Southeast load growth from data centers and industry
- Value owning large-scale carbon-free nuclear baseload generation
- Prefer a long and consistent dividend record
- Accept generation operating risk and the lesson of Vogtle's cost overruns
- Prefer a wires-only model with no fuel or construction risk
- Want highly predictable fully regulated earnings
- Value grid modernisation investment in dense urban territories
- Accept multi-jurisdiction regulatory dependence and limited growth upside
| Metric | SO | EXC |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 40.9 | 41.7 |
| AI ranki | #1006 | #914 |
| Latest closei | $82.88 | $40.34 |
| 1M returni | -7.66% | -9.23% |
| 6M returni | -13.26% | -16.51% |
| 1Y returni | -12.21% | -8.79% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SO | EXC |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.85K (-11.5%) started 2025-09-25 | $9.21K (-7.9%) started 2025-09-25 |
| 5Y ago | $17.8K (+78.0%) started 2021-09-27 | $15.22K (+52.2%) started 2021-09-27 |
| 10Y ago | $35.16K (+251.6%) started 2016-09-26 | $31.57K (+215.7%) started 2016-09-26 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SO | EXC |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $101.52B | $45.26B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 21.27 | 16.15 |
| Forward P/Ei | 17.92 | 14.46 |
| Price/Salesi | 3.49 | 1.82 |
| EV/Revenuei | 5.91 | 3.80 |
| Analyst targeti | $100.29 | $48.88 |
| Target upsidei | +13.64% | +11.27% |
| Metric | SO | EXC |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 0.10% | 9.90% |
| Earnings growthi | 30.40% | -0.20% |
| EPS growthi | +30.40% | -0.20% |
| FCF margini | -12.97% | -10.60% |
| Operating margini | 29.61% | 16.59% |
| Profit margini | 15.43% | 10.99% |
| ROIC proxyi | 11.48% | 9.71% |
| Return on equityi | 11.48% | 9.71% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.44% | 3.82% |
| Payout ratioi | 71.81% | 60.29% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.33 | 0.40 |
| Debt/equityi | 182.06 | 177.36 |
| Current ratioi | 0.79 | 1.09 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.44 | 0.72 |
Over the past year, SO and EXC have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.69), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SO | EXC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -11.54% | -7.86% |
| CAGRi | -11.55% | -7.87% | |
| Volatilityi | 17.27% | 19.53% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.89 | -0.55 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -1.22 | -0.77 | |
| Max drawdowni | 16.89% | 20.06% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.89% | 19.79% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.14% | 6.96% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.24% | 8.22% | |
| Max daily dropi | 3.28% | 3.27% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 5.84% | 7.02% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +53.04% | +32.13% |
| CAGRi | +8.89% | +5.74% | |
| Volatilityi | 18.78% | 20.92% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.31 | 0.16 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.44 | 0.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 23.28% | 29.05% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.89% | 19.79% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.47% | 11.50% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.26% | 13.69% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.70% | 7.56% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.77% | 15.10% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +125.25% | +120.81% |
| CAGRi | +8.46% | +8.25% | |
| Volatilityi | 21.99% | 23.96% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.28 | 0.26 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.40 | 0.37 | |
| Max drawdowni | 38.43% | 40.04% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.89% | 19.79% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.35% | 9.50% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.53% | 12.37% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.77% | 16.09% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.39% | 27.20% |
| Category | SO | EXC |
|---|---|---|
| Company | The Southern Company | Exelon Corporation |
| Sector | Utilities | Utilities |
| Industry | Utilities - Regulated Electric | Utilities - Regulated Electric |
| Core business | Integrated utility holding company serving Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, owning generation including the Vogtle nuclear units alongside transmission, distribution, and natural gas distribution businesses. | Pure transmission and distribution utility holding company following the separation of its generation business, serving large urban markets including Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington through several regulated subsidiaries. |
| Investor focus | Load growth from data centers and manufacturing in the Southeast, rate case outcomes, Vogtle operating performance, capital plan execution, and dividend growth. | Rate base growth and rate case outcomes across multiple jurisdictions, grid investment plans, load growth from data centers, financing costs, and dividend growth. |
- Southeast service territory is seeing strong electricity demand growth from data centers and industrial investment
- Owns generation including completed nuclear units providing large-scale carbon-free baseload
- Long dividend payment record with consistent increases
- Wires-only model avoids commodity, fuel, and generation construction risk entirely
- Serves dense urban territories requiring substantial grid modernisation investment
- Earnings are among the most predictable in the sector, being fully regulated
- The Vogtle nuclear project ran years late and far over budget, a reminder of large-project risk
- Owning generation means fuel, operating, and construction risk that wires-only utilities avoid
- Heavy capital spending requires continuous financing
- Must win rate recovery from several separate commissions with differing politics
- Growth is limited to approved capital spending, with no upside from generation or commodity markets
- Urban jurisdictions can be politically sensitive to customer bill increases
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