UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2023

OR

Commission File Number: 1-6544

Sysco Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1390 Enclave Parkway, Houston, Texas 77077-2099

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(281) 584-1390

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes þ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No þ

504,371,970 shares of common stock were outstanding as of October 13, 2023.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Sysco Corporation and its Consolidated Subsidiaries

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except for share data)

Note: The July 1, 2023 balance sheet has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date.

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Sysco Corporation and its Consolidated Subsidiaries

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)

(In thousands, except for share and per share data)

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Sysco Corporation and its Consolidated Subsidiaries

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Unaudited)

(In thousands)

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This discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements as of July 1, 2023, and for the fiscal year then ended, and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, both contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 1, 2023 (our fiscal 2023 Form 10-K), as well as the consolidated financial statements (unaudited) and notes to the consolidated financial statements (unaudited) contained in this report.

Highlights

Our improved results for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 demonstrate the favorable impact of our Recipe for Growth Strategy on our business, as we experienced earnings growth in excess of sales growth, compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023. The increase in earnings was the result of volume growth, effective margin management and productivity improvements. Our gross profit growth this quarter outpaced operating expense, due to effective management of product cost deflation in the U.S., improvements in supply chain productivity and cost-out actions. See below for a comparison of our fiscal 2024 results to our fiscal 2023 results, both including and excluding Certain Items (as defined below).

Comparisons of results from the first quarter of fiscal 2024 to the first quarter of fiscal 2023 are presented below:

• Sales:

◦increased 2.6%, or $493.6 million, to $19.6 billion;

• Operating income:

◦increased 9.1%, or $66.8 million, to $803.6 million;

◦adjusted operating income increased 10.6%, or $81.6 million, to $854.3 million;

• Net earnings:

◦increased 8.1%, or $37.8 million, to $503.4 million;

◦adjusted net earnings increased 9.9%, or $49.0 million, to $541.6 million;

• Basic earnings per share:

◦increased 8.7%, or $0.08, to $1.00 per share;

• Diluted earnings per share:

◦increased 8.8%, or $0.08, to $0.99 per share;

◦adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 10.3%, or $0.10, to $1.07;

• EBITDA:

◦increased 10.5%, or $95.0 million, to $1.0 billion; and

◦adjusted EBITDA increased 11.7%, or $107.5 million, to $1.0 billion.

The discussion of our results includes certain non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, that we believe provide important perspective with respect to underlying business trends. Other than EBITDA and free cash flow, any non-GAAP financial measures will be denoted as adjusted measures to remove (1) restructuring charges; (2) expenses associated with our various transformation initiatives; (3) severance charges; and (4) acquisition-related costs consisting of: (a) intangible amortization expense and (b) acquisition costs and due diligence costs related to our acquisitions. Our results for fiscal 2023 were also impacted by adjustments to a product return allowance pertaining to COVID-related personal protection equipment inventory and the reduction of bad debt expense previously recognized in fiscal 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the collectability of our pre-pandemic trade receivable balances.

The fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023 items discussed above are collectively referred to as “Certain Items.” The results of our operations can be impacted by changes in exchange rates applicable to converting from local currencies to U.S. dollars. We measure our results on a constant currency basis.

Trends

Economic and Industry Trends

Sysco continues to outperform the foodservice market due to the success of the Recipe for Growth strategy. The food-away-from-home sector is a healthy long-term market. Sysco is diversified and well positioned as a market leader in food service. The foodservice market is expected to grow at a slower rate in fiscal 2024 as compared to fiscal 2023, due to current macroeconomic conditions.

Sales and Gross Profit Trends

Our sales and gross profit performance are influenced by multiple factors, including price, volume, inflation, customer mix and product mix. The most significant factor affecting performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was volume growth, as we experienced a 1.6% improvement in U.S. Foodservice case volume and a 0.1% decrease in local case volume within our U.S. segment in each case as compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023. This volume reflects our broadline and specialty businesses, except for our specialty meats business, which measures its volume in pounds.

We experienced inflation at a rate of 1.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, at the total enterprise level, primarily driven by inflation in the frozen and canned and dry categories. We continue to be successful in managing our inflation, resulting in an increase in gross profit dollars. Gross margin increased 35 basis points in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, as compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023, primarily driven by higher volumes, the effective management of inflation, and our strategic sourcing efforts. We expect total enterprise level inflation to continue to be slightly positive in fiscal 2024.

Operating Expense Trends

Total operating expenses increased 3.3% during the first quarter of fiscal 2024, as compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023, driven by increased volumes. We continued to improve our supply chain efficiency, while investing in associate retention and best-in-class training, primarily for transportation and warehouse colleagues. These efficiency efforts are expected to continue to improve in fiscal 2024. We believe the advancements we are making in our physical capabilities, and the investments we are making in improved training, will provide higher service levels to our customers and strengthen Sysco’s ability to profitably win market share.

Interest Expense Trends

Interest expense for fiscal 2024 is expected to increase by approximately $50 million, as compared to fiscal 2023, due to higher debt associated with our planned acquisition of Edward Don & Company.

Mergers and Acquisitions

We continue to focus on mergers and acquisitions as a part of our growth strategy, where we plan to reinforce our existing businesses, while cultivating new channels, new segments and new capabilities.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we acquired BIX Produce Company, a leading produce specialty distributor based in Minnesota. This acquisition is expected to provide a strategic opportunity for specialty produce operations to expand its geographic footprint in an area of the country where it does not currently have operations. This company’s results are included within U.S. Foodservice Operations and were not material to our results for the first quarter of fiscal 2024.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, we announced our planned acquisition of Edward Don & Company, one of the largest kitchen equipment and supplies distributors, based out of Chicago. Edward Don & Company has a robust supply chain that is expected to enable cost effective distribution of restaurant equipment and supplies. This acquisition will further demonstrate our Recipe for Growth strategy of focusing on building strategic specialty platforms that help us better support restaurant and hospitality customers.

The results of these acquisitions are not expected to be material to the consolidated results of the company for fiscal 2024.

Strategy

Our purpose is “Connecting the World to Share Food and Care for One Another.” Purpose driven companies are believed to perform better, and we believe our purpose will assist us to grow substantially faster than the foodservice distribution industry and deliver profitable growth through our Recipe for Growth transformation. This growth transformation is supported by strategic pillars that we believe will allow us to better serve our customers, including our digital, products and solutions, supply chain, customer teams, and future horizons strategies.

Our various business transformation initiatives remain on track, including promoting our specialty programs for produce, protein and Italian products and our c

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Our market risks consist of interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange rate risk, fuel price risk and investment risk. For a discussion on our exposure to market risk, see Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risks” in our fiscal 2023 Form 10-K. There have been no significant changes to our market risks since July 1, 2023.

Sysco’s management, with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30, 2023. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding the required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Sysco’s disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30, 2023, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that, as of such date, Sysco’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as that term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II – OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

Environmental Matters

Item 103 of SEC Regulation S-K requires disclosure of certain environmental matters in which a governmental authority is a party to the proceedings and when such proceedings involve the potential for monetary sanctions that Sysco’s management reasonably believes will exceed a specified threshold. Pursuant to recent SEC amendments to this item, Sysco has chosen a reporting threshold for such proceedings of $1 million. Applying this threshold, there are no material environmental matters to disclose for this period.

From time to time, we may be party to legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business. We do not believe there are any pending legal proceedings that, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on the company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

For a discussion of our risk factors, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

We made the following share repurchases during the first quarter of fiscal 2024:

In May 2021, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program to authorize the repurchase of up to $5.0 billion of the company’s common stock, which will remain available until fully utilized.

We repurchased 1,382,947 shares for $100.0 million during fiscal 2024. As of September 30, 2023, we had a remaining authorization of approximately $3.9 billion. We purchased 319,375 additional shares under our authorization through October 13, 2023.

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities

None

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable

Insider Trading Arrangements and Policies

The table below shows the outstanding plans or other arrangements (each, a (Plan)) providing for the purchase and/or sale of Sysco securities by Sysco’s directors and Section 16 officers, including those Plans adopted or terminated during the quarter ended September 30, 2023:

The exhibits listed on the Exhibit Index below are filed as a part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

EXHIBIT INDEX

† Executive Compensation Arrangement pursuant to Item 601(b)(10)(iii)(A) of Regulation S-K

Filed herewith

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.