Have you been eager to see how The Southern Company (SO - Free Report) – one of the largest utilities in the U.S. – performed in Q2 in comparison with the market expectations? Let’s quickly scan through the key facts from this Atlanta, GA-based utility’s earnings release this morning:

About Southern Company 

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.

Zacks Rank & Surprise History 

Currently, Southern Company has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) but that could change following its second quarter 2017 earnings report which has just released. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Coming to earnings surprise history, the company has a good record: it has beaten estimates in three of the last four quarters resulting in an average positive surprise of 1.97%.

Estimate Revision Trend

Investors should note that the earnings estimate revisions for Southern Company was revised downwards by 8 cents in the last 90 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was revised downwards by 2 cents over the last 30 days.

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

A Higher-than-Expected Profit 

Earnings per share (excluding certain one-time items) came in at 73 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents. 

Revenue Came in Higher than Expected:

Revenues of $5,430 million were ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,877 million.

Southern Company Price and EPS Surprise

Southern Company (The) Price and EPS Surprise | Southern Company (The) Quote

Key Stats

Southern Company’s total retail sales declined 1.5%, with residential and commercial sales both declining. Total wholesale sales during the fourth quarter jumped 45.1% from the same period last year. However, industrial sales fell 0.8% year-over-year.

The power supplier’s operations and maintenance cost increased 18.3% to $1,301 million, while the utility’s total operating expense for the period – at $7,024 million – was up 114.5% from the prior-year level.

Share Performance 

Shares have fallen around 1.34% year-to-date; underperforming the industry’s 7% rally.