How are SO long put max profit and max loss calculated?

Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the SO long put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 16.04%), the computed maximum profit is $9,116.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$182.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a SO long put?

The breakeven for the SO long put priced on this page is roughly $91.18 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The SO market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.60%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current SO implied volatility affect this long put?

SO ATM IV is at 16.04% with IV rank near 20.27%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.

SO Long Put Strategy

SO (The Southern Company), in the Utilities sector, (Regulated Electric industry), listed on NYSE.

The Southern Company operates as an energy utility, primarily involved in the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Its operations are segmented into Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services. The company also undertakes the development, construction, acquisition, ownership, and management of various power generation assets, including renewable energy ventures, and supplies electricity to the wholesale market. Complementing its power business, it distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, while also offering gas marketing services, wholesale gas services, and managing gas pipeline investments. Its extensive portfolio of generating assets includes 30 hydroelectric, 24 fossil fuel, three nuclear, 13 combined cycle/cogeneration, 45 solar, 15 wind, one fuel cell, and four battery storage facilities. In terms of natural gas infrastructure, the company builds, operates, and maintains 76,289 miles of pipelines and 14 storage facilities with a total capacity of 157 billion cubic feet, delivering natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial clients.

SO (The Southern Company) trades in the Utilities sector, specifically Regulated Electric, with a market capitalization of approximately $106.43B, a trailing P/E of 22.59, a beta of 0.33 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 83.8-100.84, average daily share volume of 5.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 1981, approximately 30K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how SO stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.33 indicates SO has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. SO pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a long put on SO?

A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration.

SO snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $93.03, ATM IV 16.04%, IV rank 20.27%, expected move 4.60%. The long put on SO below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 28-day expiry.

Why this long put structure on SO specifically: SO IV at 16.04% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a SO long put, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.60% (roughly $4.28 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated SO expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SO should anchor to the underlying notional of $93.03 per share and to the trader's directional view on SO stock.

SO long put setup

The SO long put below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With SO at $93.03 on that close, the first option leg uses a $93.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SO chain at a 28-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 SO shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Put	$93.00	$1.83

SO long put risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$182.50
Max Profit (per contract): $9,116.50
Max Loss (per contract): -$182.50
Breakeven(s): $91.18
Risk / Reward Ratio: 49.953

Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium.

SO long put payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the long put on SO. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	+$9,116.50
$20.58	-77.9%	+$7,059.67
$41.15	-55.8%	+$5,002.83
$61.72	-33.7%	+$2,946.00
$82.28	-11.6%	+$889.16
$102.85	+10.6%	-$182.50
$123.42	+32.7%	-$182.50
$143.99	+54.8%	-$182.50
$164.56	+76.9%	-$182.50
$185.13	+99.0%	-$182.50

When traders use long put on SO

Long puts on SO hedge an existing long SO stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying SO exposure being hedged.

SO thesis for this long put

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SO extends from approximately $88.75 on the downside to $97.31 on the upside. A SO long put expresses a directional view that the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration, frequently sized to hedge an existing long SO position with one put per 100 shares held. Current SO IV rank near 20.27% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on SO at 16.04%. As a Utilities name, SO options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SO-specific events.

SO long put positions are structurally bearish; the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. SO positions also carry Utilities sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SO alongside the broader basket even when SO-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a long put on SO are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current SO chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a long put on SO?: A long put on SO is the long put strategy applied to SO (stock). The strategy is structurally bearish: A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration. With SO stock at $93.03 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SO chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are SO long put max profit and max loss calculated?: Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the SO long put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 16.04%), the computed maximum profit is $9,116.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$182.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a SO long put?: The breakeven for the SO long put priced on this page is roughly $91.18 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The SO market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.60%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a long put on SO?: Long puts on SO hedge an existing long SO stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying SO exposure being hedged.
How does current SO implied volatility affect this long put?: SO ATM IV is at 16.04% with IV rank near 20.27%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.