SO
Quel est le moat économique de The Southern Company (SO) ?
The Southern Company (SO)'s economic moat is graded on the Buffett-Fit framework using two quantitative anchors and qualitative signals. The current ROIC sits at 0.0% (0.0% over 5y average) and the gross margin runs at 0.4%. Whether that constitutes a durable competitive advantage depends on whether those returns can be sustained - covered below. Educational only, not investment advice.
ROIC sustainability. The Southern Company's trailing ROIC is 0.0%, with a 5-year average of 0.0%. ROIC above 15% sustained over multiple years is the closest single quantitative proxy for moat strength - it means capital deployed in the business is earning above-average returns AND competitors haven't been able to compete those returns away. A one-year spike from a hot product cycle doesn't count; the pattern needs to hold across a full business cycle.
Gross-margin durability. The Southern Company runs a gross margin of 0.4%. Sustained gross margins above 40% in industries where peers sit lower is direct evidence of pricing power - customers are willing to pay a premium without switching, which is what a moat actually feels like in the income statement. Margin compression over multiple years signals the moat is eroding.
Qualitative signals. Beyond the numbers, moat sources include brand strength (consumer staples, luxury), switching costs (enterprise software, banking), network effects (marketplaces, payment networks), regulatory barriers (utilities, insurance), and patents (pharma, semiconductors). The Buffett-Fit verdict on /buffett/so/ identifies which of these apply to The Southern Company specifically. The moat pillar contributes roughly 25% of the overall Buffett-Fit score.
How invest-like measures this
Un moat économique est un avantage structurel qui permet à une entreprise de gagner des rendements supérieurs à la moyenne sur le capital pendant de longues périodes sans que ces rendements soient érodés par la concurrence. Le pilier moat Buffett-Fit le note via deux ancres quantitatives (durabilité du ROIC, durabilité des marges brutes) plus des signaux qualitatifs comme la force de la marque, les coûts de changement, les effets de réseau, les barrières réglementaires et les moats de brevet.
Un ROIC supérieur à 15% maintenu sur une fenêtre pluriannuelle - pas une seule année exceptionnelle - est le meilleur proxy quantitatif unique pour la solidité du moat. Des marges brutes durables supérieures à 40% dans des industries où les pairs sont plus bas, c'est un vrai pouvoir de fixation des prix. Les deux sont nécessaires, aucun n'est suffisant à lui seul.
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