SO’s worst drop since 1999 was 38%
Southern Company (SO) fell 38% from Jan 2020 to Mar 2020. It took 1.5 years from that peak to close at a new high, in Aug 2021. Over the same years the S&P 500 fell as much as 55%.
That drop is milder than most. It ranks 964th of the 986 stocks PortfolioAutopsy tracks, counted from the deepest.
Drawdown from the last high, 1999 to now
How SO held up in each crash
| Crash | Years | SO | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot-com bust | 2000–02 | −18.9% | −47.5% |
| Financial crisis | 2007–09 | −30.4% | −55.2% |
| COVID crash | 2020 | −38.4% | −33.7% |
| 2022 rate shock | 2022 | −23.3% | −24.5% |
Each number is the deepest fall from a high inside that window, using daily prices with dividends reinvested.
See how SO behaves inside your whole mix, with the worst 12 months, loss odds and crash replays. Free, no signup, and the math runs in your browser.
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What was SO’s maximum drawdown?
SO’s deepest fall since 1999 was 38.4%, from its high on January 30, 2020 to its low on March 23, 2020. The figure uses daily prices with dividends reinvested.
How long did SO take to recover?
1.5 years. SO first closed above its Jan 2020 high again on August 16, 2021.
Was SO riskier than the S&P 500?
Over the same years, SO’s worst drop was 38.4% against 55.2% for the S&P 500 (SPY), and its worst 12 months were −21.7% against −47.4%.
Compare with
Daily adjusted closes from Yahoo Finance, January 5, 1999 through October 13, 2026, dividends reinvested. Historical facts, not a forecast and not investment advice.