SO vs VST
Southern Co. and Vistra Corp., side by side — 9 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | SO | VST |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $29.6B | $17.7B |
| Net income | $4.3B | $944.0M |
| Gross margin | · | · |
| Net margin | 14.1% | 5.3% |
| Return on equity | 12.5% | 17.7% |
| Diluted EPS | $3.92 | $2.18 |
| Dividend / share | $2.94 | $0.90 |
| Payout ratio | 69.5% | 32.4% |
| Free cash flow | $-2.9B | $1.3B |
| Equity | $36.0B | $5.1B |
| Net debt / equity | 1.80× | 3.54× |
| Current ratio | 0.65× | 0.78× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 7.0% | 9.2% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | · | 8.2% |
SO bills 1.7× the revenue of VST, and keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (14.1% against 5.3%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
9 years side by side
| Fiscal year | SO | VST |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $29.6B | $17.7B |
| FY2024 | $26.8B | $17.2B |
| FY2023 | $25.3B | $14.8B |
| FY2022 | $29.3B | $15.6B |
| FY2021 | $23.5B | $17.7B |
| FY2020 | $21.1B | $11.4B |
| FY2019 | $22.6B | $11.8B |
| FY2018 | $25.2B | $9.8B |
| FY2017 | $23.0B | $5.4B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | SO | VST |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $4.3B | $944.0M |
| FY2024 | $4.4B | $2.7B |
| FY2023 | $4.0B | $1.5B |
| FY2022 | $3.4B | $-1.2B |
| FY2021 | $2.3B | $-1.3B |
| FY2020 | $3.1B | $636.0M |
| FY2019 | $4.7B | $928.0M |
| FY2018 | $2.3B | $-54.0M |
| FY2017 | $926.0M | $-254.0M |
9 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +$11,815,000,000 | SO |
| FY2024 | +$9,540,000,000 | SO |
| FY2023 | +$10,474,000,000 | SO |
| FY2022 | +$13,648,000,000 | SO |
| FY2021 | +$5,763,000,000 | SO |
| FY2020 | +$9,654,000,000 | SO |
| FY2019 | +$10,787,000,000 | SO |
| FY2018 | +$15,444,000,000 | SO |
| FY2017 | +$17,601,000,000 | SO |
SO has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 9 fiscal years. The gap has narrowed since the earliest year compared.
9 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
9 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +8.8 pp | SO |
| FY2024 | −0.4 pp | VST |
| FY2023 | +5.1 pp | SO |
| FY2022 | +19.4 pp | SO |
| FY2021 | +17.0 pp | SO |
| FY2020 | +9.3 pp | SO |
| FY2019 | +13.2 pp | SO |
| FY2018 | +9.7 pp | SO |
| FY2017 | +8.7 pp | SO |
The higher net margin has changed hands between SO and VST over this period.
9 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
VST's net margin has been more volatile than SO's over the 9 comparable fiscal years — 7.8 percentage points of standard deviation against 4.6.
9 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in net margin changed hands between SO and VST over these 9 fiscal years — SO led in 8 and VST in 1.
9 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
VST's return on equity has been more volatile than SO's over the 9 comparable fiscal years — 20.3 percentage points of standard deviation against 3.7.
9 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in return on equity changed hands between SO and VST over these 9 fiscal years — SO led in 6 and VST in 3.
9 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.