Sysco (SYY) Risk Analysis

Under our Restated Certificate of Incorporation, our Board of Directors is authorized to issue up to 1,500,000 shares of preferred stock without stockholder approval. Issuance of these shares could make it more difficult for anyone to acquire Sysco without approval of our Board of Directors, depending on the rights and preferences of the stock issued. In addition, if anyone attempts to acquire Sysco without approval of our Board of Directors, the existence of this undesignated preferred stock could allow our Board of Directors to adopt a shareholder rights plan without obtaining stockholder approval, which could result in substantial dilution to a potential acquirer. As a result, hostile takeover attempts that might result in an acquisition of Sysco, which could otherwise have been financially beneficial to our stockholders, could be deterred.

Historically, a portion of our growth has come through acquisitions. If we are unable to integrate acquired businesses successfully or realize anticipated economic, operational and other benefits and synergies in a timely manner, our results of operations may be materially adversely affected. Integration of an acquired business may be more difficult when we acquire a business in a market in which we have limited expertise, or with a culture different from Sysco's. A significant expansion of our business and operations, in terms of geography or magnitude, could strain our administrative and operational resources. Significant acquisitions may also require the issuance of material additional amounts of debt or equity, which could materially alter our debt-to-equity ratio, increase our interest expense and decrease earnings per share, and make it difficult for us to obtain favorable financing for other acquisitions or capital investments. In addition, our failure to implement effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures with respect to a significant acquired business could result in material weaknesses and/or a failure to file our periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a timely basis.

Our operations are subject to various federal, state, provincial, regional and local laws, rules and regulations in the various countries in which we operate relating to the protection of the environment, including those governing: - the discharge of pollutants into the air, soil, and water;- the management and disposal of solid and hazardous materials and wastes;- employee exposure to hazards in the workplace; and - the investigation and remediation of contamination resulting from releases of petroleum products and other regulated materials. In the course of our operations, we: operate, maintain and fuel fleet vehicles; store fuel on-site in above and underground storage tanks; operate refrigeration systems; and use and dispose of hazardous substances and food wastes. We could incur substantial costs, including fines or penalties and third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, as a result of any violations of environmental or workplace safety laws and regulations or releases of regulated materials into the environment. In addition, we could incur substantial investigation, remediation or other costs related to environmental conditions at our currently or formerly owned or operated properties. For example, most of our distribution facilities have ammonia-based refrigeration systems and tanks for the storage of diesel fuel and other petroleum products, which are subject to laws regulating such systems and storage tanks (including the investigation and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination associated with the use of underground storage tanks). Certain of these laws and regulations in the EU may impose liability for costs of investigation or remediation of contamination (which could be material), regardless of fault or the legality of the original disposal, even if such contamination was present prior to the commencement of our operations at the site and was not caused by our activities. In addition, many of our facilities have propane and battery-powered forklifts. Proposed or recently enacted legal requirements, such as those requiring the phase-out of certain ozone-depleting substances, and proposals for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, may require us to upgrade or replace equipment, or may increase our transportation or other operating costs.

We have long-standing relationships and agreements with a number of our customers. Some of our customer agreements are terminable upon written notice by either us or the customer, which provides some customers with the opportunity to renegotiate their contracts with us on less favorable terms or to award more business to our competitors. Market competition, customer requirements, customer financial condition and customer consolidation through mergers or acquisitions also could adversely affect our ability to continue or expand these relationships. We may not be able to retain or renew existing agreements, maintain relationships with any of our customers on acceptable terms, or at all, or collect amounts that insolvent customers might owe us. The loss of one or more of our major customers could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our results of operations are susceptible to regional, national and international economic trends and uncertainties. Economic conditions can affect us in the following ways: - Unfavorable geopolitical, economic and market conditions and developments, including changes in global trade policies and tariffs, can depress demand (including as to mix of products and services), sales and/or gross margins in a given market, impact consumer confidence and foot traffic to restaurants. - Food cost and fuel cost inflation can lead to reductions in the frequency of dining out and the amount spent by consumers for food-away-from-home purchases, reducing demand for our products. - Heightened uncertainty in the financial markets negatively affects consumer confidence and discretionary spending. - The inability to consistently access credit markets could impair our ability to market and distribute food products, support our operations and meet our customers' needs. - Liquidity and the inability of our customers and suppliers to consistently access credit markets to obtain cash to support their operations can cause temporary interruptions in our ability to collect funds from our customers and obtain the products and supplies that we need in the quantities and at the prices that we request. - Foreign exchange rate fluctuations can adversely impact our competitiveness and/or financial results. The countries in which we operate have experienced and are experiencing, from time to time, deteriorating economic conditions and heightened uncertainty in financial markets, which have adversely impacted business and consumer confidence and spending and depressed capital investment and economic activity in the affected regions. Such conditions and high levels of uncertainty make it difficult to predict when, or if, a recession may occur. A prolonged economic downturn or recession in the U.S. or global economies, and the impact on gross domestic product growth, corporate earnings, consumer confidence, employment rates, income levels and/or personal wealth, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We use technology in substantially all aspects of our business operations, and our ability to serve customers most effectively depends on the reliability of our technology systems. We use software and other technology systems, among other things, to generate and select orders, to load and route trucks, to make purchases, to manage our warehouses and to monitor and manage our business on a day-to-day basis. We also use mobile devices, social networking and other online platforms to connect with our employees, suppliers, business partners and customers. Further, our business involves the storage and transmission of numerous classes of sensitive and/or confidential information and intellectual property, including customers' and suppliers' personal information, private information about employees and financial and strategic information about us and our business partners. This sensitive and/or confidential information and intellectual property are stored on information technology systems controlled by us, as well as systems controlled by third parties, such as our service providers. These technology systems and the operation thereof are vulnerable to disruption from circumstances beyond our control, including fire, natural disasters, power outages, systems failures, security breaches, espionage, cyber-attacks, viruses, theft and inadvertent release of information. In the normal course of business, we and our third-party providers experience cybersecurity threats and incidents of varying degrees from time-to-time, including ransomware, ransom-related extortion, and phishing attacks, as well as distributed denial of service attacks and the theft of data. Cyber threats are constantly evolving, are becoming more sophisticated and frequent, including through the introduction of viruses and malware (such as ransomware) and the use of artificial intelligence by the threat actors, and are being made by groups and individuals with a wide range of expertise and motives, and this increases the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. For example, in March 2023, Sysco became aware of a cybersecurity event perpetrated by a threat actor believed to have begun earlier that year. Immediately upon detection, Sysco initiated an investigation, with the assistance of cybersecurity and forensics professionals, determining that the threat actor had extracted certain company data, including data relating to operation of the business, customers, employees and personal data. This data extraction did not impact Sysco's operational systems and related business functions, and its service to customers continued uninterrupted. Sysco also notified federal law enforcement and provided other required notifications. To date, cybersecurity incidents have not had a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, there is no assurance that there will not be a material adverse effect in the future, especially if, for example, the amount of insurance coverage we maintain is not sufficient to cover claims or liabilities relating to an incident. Potential consequences of a future material cybersecurity incident include: business disruption; disruption to systems; theft, destruction, loss, corruption, misappropriation or unauthorized release of sensitive and/or confidential information or intellectual property (including personal information in violation of one or more privacy laws); loss of revenue; reputational and brand damage; and potential liability, including litigation or other legal actions against us or the imposition by governmental authorities of penalties, fines, fees or liabilities, which, in turn, could cause us to incur significantly increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs and the loss of customers. In addition, if our suppliers or customers experience such a breach or unauthorized disclosure or system failure, their businesses could be disrupted or otherwise negatively affected. This may result in a disruption in our supply chain or reduced customer orders, which would adversely affect our business operations. We have also outsourced several information technology support services and administrative functions to third-party service providers, including cloud-based service providers, and may outsource other functions in the future to achieve cost savings and efficiencies. If these service providers do not perform effectively due to breach or system failure, we may not be able to achieve the expected benefits and our business may be disrupted. Many of our employees, contractors and other corporate partners now work remotely, increasing reliance on information technology systems that are outside our direct control. These systems are potentially vulnerable to cyber-based attacks and security breaches. In addition, through the use of social engineering, cyber criminals are increasing their attacks on individual employees with business email compromise scams and targeted phishing attacks designed to trick victims into transferring sensitive data or funds, or steal credentials that compromise information systems. The actions and controls we have implemented and are implementing to date, or which we seek to cause or have caused third-party providers to implement, may be insufficient to protect our systems, information or other intellectual property. Further, we anticipate continuing to devote significant resources to maintaining and upgrading our security measures generally, including those we employ that are designed to protect personal information against these cybersecurity threats. Further, as we pursue our strategy to grow through acquisitions and to pursue new initiatives that improve our operations and cost structure, we are also expanding and improving our information technologies, resulting in a larger technological presence and corresponding exposure to cybersecurity risk. Failure to adequately assess and identify cybersecurity risks associated with acquisitions and new initiatives could increase our vulnerability to such risks. Our efforts to prevent security breaches and cybersecurity incidents, and to implement effective disaster recovery plans, may not be entirely effective to insulate us from technology disruption or protect us from adverse effects on our results of operations. Additionally, information technology systems continue to evolve and, in order to remain competitive, we must implement new technologies in a timely and efficient manner. For example, we may incorporate emerging artificial intelligence solutions into our platform, offerings, services and features, and these applications may become important in our operations over time. Our failure to implement timely and/or successfully new technologies, including artificial intelligence, may adversely affect our competitiveness and, consequently, our results of operations.